


Poetry In Motion (Ereri AU)

by hoverboarddinosaur



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: A slightly frustrating storyline, AU, Gay, TFiOS, ereri
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-10
Updated: 2016-09-18
Packaged: 2018-06-07 12:37:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 25
Words: 19,568
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6804766
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hoverboarddinosaur/pseuds/hoverboarddinosaur
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Eren is a poetry prodigy, and pretty smart in general. So smart that, while he's only 16, he's a freshman in college, and in a creative writing course with the seniors. He's also a popular poet on a writing site under the alias of "jeagerbombfantastic," and a big fan of a story on that site called "We Are the Hunters" by CleanWriter. One exciting day, CleanWriter messages him and compliments his work. Eren messages back, and the two become closer and closer via private message. What he doesn't know is that the guy he's falling for online is his crush at college.......</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Eren Jeager was (reluctantly) doing homework on his light-colored desk. 

Eren didn't care about schoolwork much. Language arts was fun, but everything else seemed pointless. He never used what he learned in school in real life, except for the rare occasion when he wrote a poem about events in history.

Poetry. His green eyes looked up from his algebra homework to his poetry notebook across the table. He sighed longingly. He desperately wanted to write a poem he'd been planning in his head all day. It would be about how people were all different, but also all the same. Eren had a pencil in his hand already if he could just reach across the desk.....

No. Mikasa would kill him if she got home from her shift at the restaurant and she found out he'd been shirking off on schoolwork again. Besides, there were only a few problems left in his algebra homework and then Eren would be free for the rest of the evening.

He did these final problems with a special determination. Despite his hatred for it, math came easily to Eren. The problems were done within 20 minutes.

Eren shut his math book with gusto, then grabbed his notebook. His notebook was sacred to him. It was a plain green school notebook. Its only distinguishing factor was a little label at the top left corner that read, "EREN JEAGER'S JOURNAL." 

Eren flipped through the journal. It took him a long time to find an empty page, which worried him. His little journal was getting filled; he'd have to get a new one soon. But he ignored his sentimental worry and began writing the poem he'd been planning all day. In scrawly handwriting, he wrote,

"Two ears. Two eyes. One nose.

These are traits all humans share.

 

But somehow we differ

in smiles and color of hair.

 

And souls are all different too....."

As Eren wrote, his facial expression adopted to the tone of his poem. The poem was meant to be somewhat depressing, but as it went on, it became more inspiring and gleeful. After all, Eren thought once he realized the change in tone, it is beautiful how everyone's so different.

Writing scared Eren sometimes. It could make him feel things. Sometimes beautiful things, but sometimes terror and sadness appeared, too. A lot of the time his poetry reflected how he felt. The way it mirrored his emotions was satisfying, but creepy, in a way.

Finally, Eren finished the poem. He read it over a few times, erasing certain words and replacing them with ones he thought would better fit the rhythm and tone. When he was done with his quick editing, he read the poem over one last time. In his opinion, it was quite good. He decided to publish it.

Eren got up from his desk and went towards his bed, notebook in hand. He picked up his laptop and opened it, then went to the Internet browser. He typed in the address of his writing website, and pressed enter.

He had about ten notifications, which he clicked. Most of them were random likes and comments on his poetry book. He smiled at the, but his heart skipped a beat at one notification. 

"CleanWriter updated 'We Are the Hunters.'"

Eren clicked it immediately. "We Are the Hunters" was his favorite story, and it hadn't updated in a month. Poetry could wait. They'd left off when Leroy was about to be devoured by a giant. He began to read the first line.

Instincts kicked in- literally. My leg struck the giant's teeth......

. . . . . . . .. . . . . .

It had only been a few minutes after Levi had pressed the "publish" button on his story, and already his notifications were spammed with thousands of likes and comments. He didn't have time to read through them all, but their very existence encouraged him. Nothing appeared on his face, but he was smiling, inside.

But he didn't want to just scroll through his notifications. He had just published a good chapter of 'We Are the Hunters.' And now he was bored.

The chapter really had been good. Leroy- the fictional version of Levi- had won a minor battle against the giants, and had been promoted by Erwin Schmidt to a corporal. Levi's writing in that chapter had also been very good, in his own opinion.

He wanted to read something, though. He just didn't know what. It was too late at night to read horror. Fantasy and sic-fi required too much immersion. And Levi hated romance.

That left only poetry. He typed 'poetry' in the search bar, and began to look for a book to read. He scrolled for a while. Most of them he refused to read due to the fact that they had cheesy titles. He finally found on that said, "My Poems." That seemed like a reasonable name to Levi, so he clicked it for further investigation.

The description read, "Just a collection of my poetry. I write all sorts of poetry, so prepare for variety. Enjoy!" It was by some guy who called himself 'jeagerbombfantastic.' The username seemed familiar. No points to the kid for clever descriptions, Levit thought, but he opened the story anyway. The first poem was called "Love Unknown."

In one hour, Levi read all of jeagerbombfantastic's poems. Sometimes he had to put down the phone, because a poem was so deep that he had a mini existential crisis. Some of the poems counteracted those crisises with their uplifting messages. One poem even made him chuckle. It was a haiku that went,

"Haikus are so weird.

They limit what you can say.

Now I'm out of syll-"

It was the sort of humorous irony that Levi liked. When he finished the last poem, the one Eren had published that day, he was a bundle of emotions. Levi couldn't even remember the last time he had any emotions. This guy is incredible, he thought. He decided to tell him that.

jeagerbombfantastic's profile picture was a cute, yellow smiley face. Levi clicked on it. He didn't bother to read his bio, he just pressed the little 'message' icon and began to type, "Your poems are pretty great." To his surprise, Levi got an almost immediate response.

jeagerbombfantastic: Wow! Thank you! I absolutely love your work! Thank you so much.

CleanWriter: Don't piss yourself. I thought I recognized your username. Let me guess; you read 'We Are the Hunters.'

jeagerbombfantastic: Yes! It's one of my favorite stories! What's your secret?

Levi had to think about that for a moment. He didn't really have a secret; he just wrote what he thought of. That wasn't special at all. But he wasn't about to let the kid down, so Levi did what he did best when it came to writing; romanticized.

CleanWriter: I write exactly what I think when I think it. Save the doubts for editing.

jeagerbombfantastic: Great! I'll keep that in mind.

CleanWriter: Okay.

jeagerbombfantastic: So, hate to bother you, but, uh...... what was your favorite poem?

CleanWriter: The haiku about haikus.

jeagerbombfantastic: Really? I thought it was my worst.

CleanWriter: You're wrong. It was really good.

jeagerbombfantastic: Thanks! I really loved your most recent chapter, by the way. Leroy's my favorite, but Hanje is second.

CleanWriter: She's based off of a friend I have.

jeagerbombfantastic: Wow..... does she really have all those little quirks?

CleanWriter: Yes.

jeagerbombfantastic: Woah. You must be a great observer to notice all that.

CleanWriter: I guess you could say that.

Levi was curious about how this guy wrote poetry. He had tried poetry, but failed. While Levi was excellent at romanticizing details, poetry involved romanticizing life. And he'd lived enough to know that life wasn't romantic.

But Levi didn't get a chance to ask jeagerbombfantastic his questions. "Levi! Turn off those lights and go to bed or I'm coming' in there!" a gruff voice shouted.

"Fine, Uncle Kenny!" Levi shouted. His tone was bitter.

But his uncle was in charge, at least until next September. Levi had technically turned 23 two months ago at Christmas, but he was staying with his Uncle Ackerman through college, which didn't end until June. Levi turned off the lights, and grimaced as he got into his perfectly-made med, messing it up.

Then he grabbed his phone and opened the writing app. He quickly messaged jeagerbombfantastic.

CleanWriter: Sorry, have to go to bed. Night.

jeagerbombfantastic: Night! You've inspired me to write :)

That was strange. Levi usually discouraged people, not inspired them.

Uncle Kenny was right, though. It was 10:41 exactly, and if Levi wanted to get to campus on time, he'd have to wake up early. He shut his eyes and went to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eren and Levi talk some more, IDK. I'm bad at summaries.

Schoolwork didn't just come easily to Eren; he was actually quite gifted. So gifted that he was already in college, despite being only 16 (though he was turning 17 next month). College itself was an adventure to Eren, even if he didn't like the schoolwork. Paying for it was hard on him and Mikasa, but it was very enjoyable. One of the reasons why it was so fun was Levi Ackerman.

"Hi, Levi!" he said cheerily as he sat down next to his desk partner.

"Hey," Levi said. He was writing in his notebook, as usual.

"Whatcha writing?" Eren asked. He knew that Levi never answered him, but he liked hearing the different excuses he thought of.

"The CIA will kill me if I tell you." the short man said, not looking up from his notebook. Eren chuckled.

The class soon started. Eren didn't pay much attention, he knew all of the stuff Mr. Smith was saying. But he did like watching Levi, who's eyes were now trained on the teacher. It was obvious that he was fully immersed.

That's why he loved creative writing class. For some reason, he really wanted to see that grumpy man excited, and that class did the trick. So while Levi was engrossed in the lesson, Eren was engrossed in Levi.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The train ride home was long, and boring. Levi leaned against the window, with white headphones in his ears. He was playing "Tenerife Sea" by Ed Sheeran. 

Should this be the last thing I see, I want you to know it's enough for me......

Boredom was a frequent problem for Levi. He remembered being young and finding everything incredible and fascinating. He was never bored back then. But back then, he still had his best friends, Isabel and Farlan.

On reflex, he opened up his writing app. Surprisingly, he had no notifications. That disappointed Levi, because now he had absolutely nothing to do. There's always jeagerbombfantastic, he thought. For some reason, Levi wanted to talk to this guy. He intrigued him.

So he went to his inbox and clicked is messages with jeagerbombfantastic. Then he began to type.

CleanWriter: Hey, kid. How's it going?

jeagerbombfantastic: Great! I just got home from college.

CleanWriter: I'm going home now. Written any poems today?

jeagerbombfantastic: I'm working on one now! Want me to send it to you?

CleanWriter: Sure.

In about two minutes, Levi got a long message from Eren. It was the poem, and it read:

jeagerbombfantastic: 

I'm sure that those who 

smile least

have the prettiest smiles.

They only reward these 

beautiful smiles

 

to equally beautiful things.

I wish that I 

could be one of the things

to bring these smiles.

 

Ironically, Levi smiled as he read the poem. It was such a sweet poem, and he couldn't help if it was aimed at him. Do I have a pretty smile? Levi wondered. Perhaps he'd try smiling tomorrow and see if anyone said anything.

CleanWriter: That's really good. You should publish it.

jeagerbombfantastic: Thanks! I'll do it tomorrow!

CleanWriter: This is stupid and random, but can you suggest any good books to read?

jeagerbombfantastic: Published books, or ones on this site?

CleanWriter: Either.

jeagerbombfantastic: How about 'The Fault in Our Stars' by John Green?

CleanWriter: I've read that. It's really good.

jeagerbombfantastic: I know, right? Who's your favorite character?

CleanWriter: Augustus.

jeagerbombfantastic: He's great, but I love Hazel! The sarcasm and all that.

jeagerbombfantastic: Favorite quote?

CleanWriter: "The world is not a wish-granting factory." Yours?

jeagerbombfantastic: "I fell in love the way you fall asleep; slowly, then all at once."

CleanWriter: I dunno. I put my head on the pillow and bam, I'm asleep.

jeagerbombfantastic: XD You're funny.

CleanWriter: Thanks.

Just then, Levi noticed that the train had stopped at his stop. He quickly got off, then messaged jeagerbombfantastic from the platform.

CleanWriter: My train just stopped. Talk to you later.

jeagerbombfantastic: Bye!

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Levi wasn't surprised to see Hanji on his bed. She'd probably been partying to hard (again) and accidentally went into Levi's flat instead of her own- they were neighbors. Levi didn't mind as long as she woke up before Uncle Kenny came home.

So he sat down on his desk. His teachers hadn't given out any assignments, so he got his writing notebook out of his bag, and sighed. He had to finish this chapter of 'We Are the Hunters,' but he couldn't.

Levi was five chapters ahead of what he'd published- in other words, while he'd just published chapter 16, he was currently writing chapter 18. Leroy was supposed to get a new squad member, one that would end up really helping the fight against the giants, because he could become a giant. But he couldn't think of the character's personality, or even a name.

Suddenly, he got an idea. He opened up the writing app again.

CleanWriter: How would you like to have a character in 'We Are the Hunters?'

jeagerbombfantastic: Oh my freaking god, I would LOVE that! Thank you!

CleanWriter: Okay, what is the first and last letters of your name.

jeagerbombfantastic: E and N.

CleanWriter: How's 'Ethan Jeager?'

jeagerbombfantastic: Perfect! Thank you so much! <3

Levis stared at that little heart. For the first time in years, he did an ear-to-ear smile. If he could imagine that smile all day tomorrow, smiling would be easy.

Then he got down to writing. He decided to base the appearance on Eren Jeager, because they had similar personalities, and even the same last name. He wrote,

"The boy had bright green eyes and was taller than me. He looked a bit scared, sitting in that cage. I felt bad for him; how cold he be a monster? I said-"

His writing was interrupted by a creak as Hanji sat up suddenly. "Wazzgoinon?" she asked drowsily.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The females in Eren and Levi's lives bother the hell out of them.

To say that Hanji Zoë was a party girl would be an understatement. When Hanji wasn't in class, she was at some party. While she was at a party, she went crazy, drinking whole bottles of alcohol in seconds and took up the whole dance floor. She was the essential opposite of Levi.

"Go back to your apartment, Hanji." Levi said, still staring at his phone and talking to jeagerbombfantastic.

"You messaging that guy again?" Hanji asked, a slur in her voice.

"Come see for yourself." Levi said. Hanji came up behind him, reading the most recent message. Her breath smelled like alcohol. Figures, Levi thought.

"Oooooh! Look at that little heart! Aw! If I didn't already ship you with that Eren kid..... what's his username?" 

"Jeagerbombfantastic."

"Great! I'mma check him out." With that declaration, Hanji whipped out her phone. She was the one who'd introduced Levi to the site; she went on there to read and write fanfiction. Levi sighed and went back to messaging his newfound friend.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Eren came to college that Friday cheerfully. He was going to have a character in his favorite story, and he was going to spend the day tomorrow with his sister and his friend, Armin. They were going to just casually hang out, and Eren couldn't wait.

However, Eren's day was brightened further when he walked into creative writing and saw Levi...... smiling.

His eyes lit up as he walked over to Levi, who wasn't writing, for one. "Levi! What's the special occasion?" he asked.

Levi shrugged. "Nothing in particular. Just in a good mood."

"Me too! I'm spending the whole day tomorrow with my sister and best friend, Armin!"

"Armin? That blonde kid who spends all his time in the lab with Hanji?"

Eren laughed. "Yep, that's him! So, no writing today?"

"After I mentioned my spy work to you, the CIA confiscated my notebook." Really, the pages had just ran out and Levi needed a new one.

"Too bad. What did you write for that assignment Mr. Smith gave us about winter?"

"Short composition about a guy walking in a field during winter. You?"

"Poem about a slowly freezing pond."

"Hopefully it freezes slowly enough so that Hanji falls in. That'll shut her up."

With a chuckle, Eren said, "For a guy who's usually so grumpy, you sure are funny."

Levi thought of how jeagerbombfantastic had said he was funny two days ago, and smiled a bit more, as if to silently say, 'thank you.'

"And, you have a beautiful smile."

. . . . . . . . . . 

Eren wanted to message CleanWriter as soon as he got home to talk about TFIOS and other such things. Mikasa, however, had other ideas.

"Let's watch a movie together, like we did when your mom was still around." she insisted. Mikasa always called their mom 'your mom' even though she'd lived with the Jeagers since she was eight.

"Mikasa, I've got to check my notifications! Plus, there's a guy I want to message." Eren said.

She squinted. "A guy? Like a 'kissing' sort of guy or a 'bro' sort of guy?"

"Um, I don't know? A 'kissing' sort of guy, I guess? He's really talented."

"I thought you liked that Levi guy."

"I do. But I also like CleanWriter- he's the guy I'm messaging. I sort of like them both, but I also don't! I dunno."

"Eren....."

"Don't 'Eren' me! Look, I can't wait to chill with you and Armin tomorrow, but I need some time alone, okay, 'Kasa?" With that, he went into his room.

Eren sighed. This was a problem. He'd sort of liked Levi for a while, but today, with his smile and jokes and positive attitude, Eren's feelings skyrocketed. Now he also had CleanWriter, who'd always been an unattainable goal, like a celebrity crush. He sort of knew the guy now, and he was even smarter and more interesting then he imagined. Which was a problem, really.

Well, I came in here for a reason, he thought as he lay down on his bed and took out his phone.

jeagerbombfantastic: Hey! What are you doing?

CleanWriter: Nothing.

jeagerbombfantastic: Can I get a sneak peek at the next chapter of 'We Are the Hunters?'

CleanWriter: No, that's unfair. You should wait with everyone else.

jeagerbombfantasatic: Pleasepleasepleasepleaseplease?

CleanWriter: No, sorry.

jeagerbombfantastic: I'll dedicate a poem to you!

CleanWriter:...... okay.

jeagerbombfantastic: Great! Send the sneak peek as soon as you can, and I'll get to work on your poem.

It wouldn't be to hard to write it; all of his poems were either about Levi or CleanWriter these days, anyway. He grabbed a notebook from his desk and began to think. Words came to him quickly, and he wrote, 

"It's nice to remember

that in a world gone sour,

 

That there're those who're so interesting

that one could talk to them for hours.

 

And people who have great talent

which they share with the world,

 

These people are humanity's strongest:

it's sturdy, glimmering pearl."

 

Now Eren patiently waited for the sneak peek.

. . . . . . . . . . . 

Levi didn't mind sending the sneak peek to jeagerbombfantastic. Later on, he could copy and paste it into the chapter he was updating. Plus, the guy had been so eager-to-please and even sent him a sneak peek, so he figured he owed him one.

Levi began where Leroy was talking to his squad, and ended when they were going to go train. he hit 'send' on his laptop and waited.

jeagerbombfantastic: That's great! Outuo is sort of scary......... and weird.

CleanWriter: He is in real life, too.

jeagerbombfantastic: Are all of the characters based off your friends?

CleanWriter: Yes.

jeagerbombfantastic: Does that mean I'm your friend? :)

CleanWriter: I guess, yeah.

jeagerbombfantastic: :D

jeagerbombfantastic: I'm going to send the poem now, okay?

CleanWriter: Okay.

jeagerbombfantastic: Maybe 'okay' can be our 'always.'

CleanWriter: Obvious flirting is obvious.

jeagerbombfantastic: That's the point!

A few minutes later, Levi read Eren's poem. He felt sort of warm as he read it, but excited at the same time. Eren had such a romantic way with words, like Shakespeare. Levi really like one phrase.

CleanWriter: Can I us 'humanity's strongest' in 'We Are the Hunters?' Fucking fantastic poem, by the way.

jeagerbombfantastic: As you wish.

CleanWriter: Is your flirting with me going to consist only of fictional references?

jeagerbombfantastic: As an incredible fiction writer, you should appreciate incredible fiction references.

CleanWriter: With that logic, a great poet should appreciate great poetry references? Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?

jeagerbombfantastic; Haha! You're great.

CleanWriter: Okay.

jeagerbombfantastic: Okay.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eren goes shopping with Armin and Mikasa, and runs into Levi.

The Saturday Eren spent with his friend passed quickly. Armin suggested they did a casual shopping at the mall, so they spent all afternoon and evening looking at stores like "Ral's Clothing," "Fish, Frogs, 'n' More," and "Shinganshina Snacks." There was lots of laughter and running, trying things on, and spending too much money.

By 8:30 that night, Eren was the only one of them that wasn't tired. They were shopping through a store called "Wall Maria Stationary," and Eren had his arms full with more notebooks, electric pencils, and bookmarks than he'd ever need. Armin was looking at a bird-watching notebook, and while she was trying to hide it, Mikasa was quite bored. The aspiring chef had no interest in stationary. Or writing, for that matter.

20 minutes later, Eren was finally ready to check out. His friends stood in line behind him and waited with the 5 shopping bags Mikasa was single-handedly holding. Eren was gleefully smiling at his merchandise, and his smile widened when he recognized the person ahead of him.

"Levi!" he shouted. The raven-haired boy looked behind himself, and his expression softened the second he saw Eren.

"Oh, hey, li'l brat," he said in the friendliest tone any Levi could manage.

"What are you doing here?" Eren asked. Levi waved a simple, leather-bound notebook. 

"Replacing the notebook the CIA took from me," he said with a slight smirk.

Eren laughed, but Armin and Mikasa looked confused. Then Levi came up in line. He paid for his notebook and then said to Eren, "I'll wait outside the door." Eren was honored that Levi was waiting for him. He paid quickly, put his stuff in a bag, and walked to the door. Levi was leaning against a wall.

"We should get going, Eren." Mikasa urged.

"Yeah, we're tired." Armin said drowsily.

"But I'm not!" Eren pouted.

"Tell you what," Levi said, ending the dispute. "You two go home, and Eren and I will go have coffee or something."

Mikasa looked at Levi suspiciously, then sighed. "Fine. Let's go, Armin."

As they walked away, Armin pulled out his phone and muttered, "Hanji will want to hear about this."

Eren turned to Levi. "Where to?"

"Titan Café. It's the only place around here that makes a decent mint latté."

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Levi showed Eren a good table, and they sat down. A few minutes later, the waitress came. "Eren?" she asked in surprise.

Eren looked up at the brown-haired girl. "Oh my god, Sasha!" he exclaimed. "I didn't know you worked here!"

Sasha laughed. "There's a lot of things you've missed since you left the high school, Eren! Anyway, what can I get you boys?"

"The usual mint latté," Levi said.

"Same as him." Eren said.

Sasha gave him a knowing smile and walked away. What was that about? Levi wondered. "Is she your girlfriend?" he asked.

"Sasha? No, last time I checked she was dating my friend Connie. And I'm about as straight as a circle"

Levi cocked an eyebrow. "I'm gay, too, but she's a lesbian?"

"No, Connie's a boy."

"Wow."

"What?"

"Let's just say I would never name a male character 'Connie.'"

"That reminds me, I really want an answer this time: what do you write?"

"Usual stuff. Stories."

"Short stories or novels?"

"Both."

"Can I read a short story?"

Levi rummaged through his backpack then pulled out a green notebook. "It's all used up, but I've got a short story in it somewhere." he said as he flipped through the notebook. "Aha. There."

Eren took the notebook and began reading.

"Since the day she got her cat as a ten-year-old, Izzy promised that her cat Chocolate would have a purpose. However, as she watched the vet prepare that final, lethal injection, she wondered if she had succeeded."

The story continued as the vet put Chocolate to sleep, and Izzy recalled the feline's life and though of how useless it had been. In the end, Izzy realized that Chocolate had made her who she was, and in order to give the cat a purpose, she'd do well in life.

"That's incredible," Eren said upon finishing it, his jaw hanging. "I should've thought like that when my dog died."

"Thanks it. I wrote it for my friend Isabel a two years ago, when her cat died." Levi said. Right before she died.

"I love the way you wrote the memories."

"I'm pretty good at memories."

"You really are."

"So, don't keep me hanging. What do you write, brat?"

"Poetry."

"Oh. Must be fun."

"It is! I have this party trick that if someone gives me a topic, any topic, I can write a poem about it and...... you don't care, do you?"

Levi violently shook his head as Sasha put down the two coffees. "It sounds fine. I'll try it." He scanned the room for inspiration. Since the only noise in the mostly silent café was Ella Fitz Gerald singing "Dream a Little Dream of Me" on the radio, Levis said, "Make a poem about jazz."

"Hmm, okay." Eren said. He scowled as he thought for a minute, then sait, "The brass section serenades/the rhythm section holds the beat/the audience claps/ as the A-section repeats."

Levi nodded slowly. "Nice,. Simple, but nice."

. . . . . . . . . . . 

Levi plopped his bed at 11:30 that night. He and Eren talked about writing, books, and other such things very, very late. Now, he planned on talking to Eren until he passed out, like he used to do with Isabel or Farlan, before they passed away.

He opened is app, and to no surprise of his, there was already a message.

jeagerbombfantastic: Have you ever written any stories besides "We Are the Hunters?"

CleanWriter: A few short ones.

jeagerbombfantastic: You should publish them!

CleanWriter: Maybe.

jeagerbombfantastic: Anyway, have you read anything good lately?

CleanWriter: No, not really. Most of today's books are crap, don't you think?

jeagerbombfantastic: Depends on the genre. What genres do you like?

CleanWriter: All of them but romance, which the exception TFIOS. My favorite is horror.

jeagerbombfantastic: I love fantasy, personally, but some horror is great, like Edgar Allen Poe. He's an inspiration to me.

And so they continued to talk...............


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eren and Levi have a nice chat online.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got lazy so I made a whole chapter just of these two being the dorks they are online XD

CleanWriter: Edgar Allen Poe, huh? I've read 'The Raven,' but nothing else by him.

jeagerbombfantastic: You should read more! He was really a great writer.

CleanWriter: Maybe I will. I dunno.

jeagerbombfantastic: You're not very talkative today. Is something wrong?

CleanWriter: No. I'm never talkative.

jeagerbombfantastic: I bet you'll get talkative if I talk about something you like. What do you like, besides writing?

CleanWriter: Nothing.

jeagerbombfantastic: I'll just have to ask you more questions, then.

jeagerbombfantastic: Why is your username 'CleanWriter?'

CleanWriter: I'm a writer who likes to clean.

jeagerbombfantastic: Aha, so you do like something! Now I can seduce you with my cleaning skills! BRB

CleanWriter: What are you doing?

jeagerbombfantastic: my-clean-kitchen.jpg

CleanWriter: You're not seducing me with cleaning. But is that really your kitchen? Did you clean it yourself? What cleaning spray did you use?

jeagerbombfantastic: Are you sure I'm not seducing you? But the answers are yes, yes, and Clorox.

CleanWriter: I use Clorox, too. All the others are incompetent.

jeagerbombfantastic: You're a smart man.

CleanWriter: You know I'm a guy, but you still flirted with me? Are you gay, too?

jeagerbombfantastic: I prefer not to label myself, but yeah.

CleanWriter: Oh. I'm gay, too.

jeagerbombfantastic: I know.

CleanWriter: You know what's unfair? You know what stuff I like but I don't know what you like. Tell me, you shit.

jeagerbombfantastic:I just really, really like reading. I like novels and stuff, but I especially love reading poetry. Sometimes I like reading poetry more than I like writing it.

CleanWriter: Congratulations, you're the only teen in the world who likes reading poetry more than writing it.

jeagerbombfantastic: Yep!

jeagerbombfantastic: Wait, did you just make a TFIOS reference? FOR ME?

CleanWriter: Yeah, got a problem with that?

CleanWriter: ..... Jeager?

CleanWriter: Are you okay, Jeager????

CleanWriter: Jeager?????????

jeagerbombfantastic: I'm okay! I was just fanboying.

CleanWriter: Fanboying over my reference?

jeagerbombfantastic: Yes.

CleanWriter: Oh my fucking god, am I going to hae to seduce you with book references? Ugh.

jeagerbombfantastic: You can seduce me any way you want ;)

CleanWriter: How about I seduce you by not seducing you at all?

jeagerbombfantastic: WAIT, NO!!!! SEDUCE ME!

CleanWriter: I'll only seduce you if you publish another poem tomorrow morning.

jeagerbombfantastic: But I've already published so many poems.

CleanWriter: I'll only publish a short horror story I wrote.

jeagerbombfantastic: You really like my poems, don't you?

CleanWriter: I do. I really do.

jeagerbombfantastic: That means a lot to me.

jeagerbombfantastic: Hmm, seduction and a short horror story? I'll do it.

CleanWriter: Then it's a deal. I'll seduce you and publish a short story if you publish another poem tomorrow.

jeagerbombfantastic: Deal.

CleanWriter: You realize that you're basically paying me to seduce you, right?

jeagerbombfantastic: Yeah. Do you mind seducing me?

CleanWriter: No, as brats go, you're pretty good so far. If you turn out to be a jerk, though, I'll probably break your heart.

jeagerbombfantastic: It would be an honor to have my heart broken by you, CleanWriter.

CleanWriter: Thanks.

CleanWriter: Holy shit, that was a 'The Fault in Our Stars' reference, wasn't it?

CleanWriter: Jeager?

CleanWriter: FUCKING ANSWER ME YOU CHEEKY LIL SHIT!


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eren and Levi chat some more, then go to Titan Cafe.

Eren didn't talk to CleanWriter again for about 2 weeks. Not because he didn't have anything to say, because he actually had a lot to say, but it was all really, really weird stuff. He was worried that it would scare the writer off if he told him the weird thoughts he had, even though he'd told him a lot of strange things the last time they talked. Every time Eren thought or saw something, he instantly thought, I should tell CleanWriter! But then he would feel like it was too strange, and forget about it.

Levi, on the other hand, wasn't messaging jeagerbombfantastic for one reason and one reason alone: Hanji wanted him to. At first, she was mostly interested in what Levi said to jeagerbombfantastic. He remembered one time when he walked into his room, only to find Hanji typing on his laptop, a malicious grin on her face.

"What are you doing?" Levi had asked blandly, leaning on the doorway.

Hanji frowned in shock and slammed the laptop shut. "NOT writing a smutty Sebaciel one-shot on your account!"

"Why on my account?"

"Well, you refuse to message jeagerbombfantastic, so I need to let him know you're into, you know....." She grabbed a pencil and thrust it in and out of his electric pencil sharpener. Levi rolled his eyes as the pencil sharpener whirred, and grabbed the laptop off of the desk.

"If that's your way of outing me, it's shit. Besides, I already told him I was gay the other night," he said.

"Oh."

At some point, though, Hanji gave up on saying specific things, and insisted that Levi tell jeagerbombfantastic everything he said and thought.

"I can't think of how Ethan Jeager should turn into a giant."

"Ask jeagerbombfantastic for help!"

"Hanji, I'm fucking serious. I don't think you ever think of anything besides your stupid shipping."

"Tell your opinion to jeagerbombfantastic."

"I would go to the bathroom, but you're so annoying that you'd probably want me to tell freaking jeagerbombfantastic that, too."

"Gee, you're right. I am annoying. I wonder what he'd think of me!"

"UGHHHH!"

Eren and Levi managed to get through the weeks without their 'pen pal' by speaking to each other. Every Saturday, they met at Titan Cafe to talk about things. At first, they mostly talked about writing, but then their topics shifted to totally random things like pets, recipes (chili in particular), and Renaissance sculptures. 

One Saturday, though, neither of them came. They'd both made up fake excuses like mandatory parties and such, but they were both going to stay home and message, well, each other, ironically.

CleanWriter: I don't know how your character should turn into a giant.

jeagerbombfantastic: HE CAN TURN INTO A GIANT??????

CleanWriter: Yes.

jeagerbombfantastic: WOW! Maybe he should have to cut into some part of his body that activates his SUPER GIANT POWERS?!?!?!?!?!?!

CleanWriter: That's the lamest idea ever, you dork. I'll use it.

jeagerbombfantastic: Great! When are you updating?

CleanWriter: Tomorrow. but your character won't show up for two or more chapters.

jeagerbombfantastic: Okay. I liked your horror story, by the way. I read it at 3:00 a.m. and it sort of freaked me out.

CleanWriter: You were scared shitless, weren't you?

jeagerbombfantastic: I plead the fifth.

CleanWriter: I rest my case.

CleanWriter: I liked that poem about little kids. I like kids, actually.

jeagerbombfantastic: You like something besides cleaning and writing? This is historical.

CleanWriter: Shut up.

jeagerbombfantastic: Never!

CleanWriter: Isn't it passed your bedtime, kid?

jeagerbombfantastic: Oooh, sing my a lullaby, daddy ;)

CleanWriter: This just got really fucking disgusting.

jeagerbombfantastic: Right, you hate dirty stuff.

CleanWriter: It's okay if it comes from cute brats like you, I guess.

jeagerbombfantastic: YOU'RE S E D U C I N G ME!

CleanWriter: Duh.

jeagerbombfantastic: You go from romantic to unromantic really fast.

CleanWriter: I bet you can't be more romantic than me.

jeagerbombfantastic: I can!

jeagerbombfantastic: If I knew you in real life, I'd leave you adorable little poems everywhere.

Levi nodded slowly at his computer, then remembered that he had to message back.

CleanWriter: That's diabetically cheesy.

jeagerbombfantasitc: I think it's a great idea.

Moments later, Levi's phone rang. The contact name said 'Eren Jeager,' so he picked it up immediately.

"What's up, Eren?" he asked nonchalantly.

"The..... thing I had to do cleared up. Did yours?"

He glanced at his laptop for a moment, then sighed. "Sure."

"Okay, then. Meet me at the coffee shop in twenty minutes."

"Why?"

"My sister is out of the home with her girlfriend, and I'm bored."

"Well, alright. Don't be late."

"We 16-year-olds aren't known for our punctuality, but I'll try my best."

"Got it."

Levi hung up, then threw on a coat; it was early March, but it was still very cold. After he'd equipped a coat and earmuffs, he quickly messaged jeagerbombfantastic.

CleanWriter: I have to go.

jeagerbombfantastic: Me too, actually. Promise to message me tomorrow?

CleanWriter: Sure.

Then he left.

. . . . . .. .. . . . . .. .. . . . . .

Eren felt bad about using the idea of leaving cute poems around that CleanWriter had inspired on Levi, but he was sure Levi would love it so much. Plus, he loved sharing his poetry with him. Poetry was Eren's whole life, and he felt like Levi understood his life.

He stared at the sticky-note he'd scribbled the poem onto. It read,

"Shooting-star wishes

really do come true. I know,

because I wished on one

Just before I met you.:

 

It was sweet, and it was about stars. You couldn't go wrong with poems about stars, in Eren's opinion.

He crumpled the sticky note when Levi sat down, and their regular meet-up began.

Their coffee was routine. They both ordered mint lattés, and Sasha teased Eren about his crush. Levi made Eren laugh too hard, and Eren would occasionally get a chuckle from Levi. All was well.

When they finished their coffee and paid, they both stood up. "Great to see you again, Levi. See you at class on Monday!" Eren said.

"See you," Levi replied. They shook hands and Eren walked off.

Levi felt something in his hand; a yellow sticky-note. He straightened it out and read the poem, and his heart melted and stomach fluttered. Great, he thought. Now I have two dorky brats to choose from!

He didn't know, though, that he was staring at the sticky note and smiling.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eren and Levi talk during class, then ride home together.

One afternoon, while casually flipping through his notebook, Eren realized that his entire notebook was filled with poems either about CleanWriter or Levi. The poems were all similar to each other, because the two were both so similar; austere, mysterious, and genius. However, the poems about Levi described his steel-gray eyes, the casual way he talked, and his blank expression. The poems he wrote about CleanWriter always praised his writing, or spoke of his unique opinions.

The other difference between their poems was that Levi had seen most of Eren's poems about him, and CleanWriter had not. Eren constantly stuck little poems into Levi's pocket, or desk, or backpack. Once, he even wrote a sonnet in Levi's notebook! The man had found it adorable.

CleanWriter and jeagerbombfantastic were enjoying each other's presence, though. Something about jeagerbombfantastic's fanboy-ness had inspired Levi to update more. That pleased everyone, most of all Hanji. She loved the book, and had even taken to drawing fanart for it (Ethan x Leroy, mostly). Levi didn't really like her art, but he couldn't talk; most 5-year-olds drew better than he did.

Eren had been beyond ecstatic when he read the chapter where Ethan Jeager was introduced. He could imagine himself alongside Leroy Ackerton. Plus, it seemed that Ethan's powers would really help progress the Scouting Legion. He'd babbled excitedly about it to his friends for hours. He'd been tempted to tell Levi about it, too, but dropped the idea in fear that he'd think he was weird.

Instead, the next time he talked to Levi, they talked about their post-college plans.

"I want to get published. That's my only goal," Levi said.

"Well, it's harder for poets to get published," Eren said. "But that's what I want, too."

"Trust me, every publisher in the world will be fighting over the honor of publishing your poetry," Levi said. Eren turned crimson.

"Which story of yours do you think will get published?"

"Probably my novel."

"What's your novel about?" 

Levi contemplated telling Eren about 'We Are the Hunters,' but decided it was too complicated. Instead, he smirked and said, "The CIA will kill me if I tell you."

Eren laughed out loud, then became silent when Mr. Erwin Smith walked in.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Eren had decided to message CleanWriter during lunch.

jeagerbombfantastic: I like Ethan, but Leroy's still my favorite character. Are he and Erwin Schmidt going to date?

CleanWriter: What? No. He's based off of my teacher for fuck's sake.

jeagerbombfantastic: That explains a lot.

jeagerbombfantastic: Is it bad that I ship Ethan and Leroy together?

CleanWriter: I have gotten that message at least five times today.

jeagerbombfantastic: You still haven't answered my question.

CleanWriter: The answer is no. Ship whatever you want, nothing's wrong.

jeagerbombfantastic: Oh, okay.

jeagerbombfantastic: HOLY CRAP!

CleanWriter: What is it???

jeagerbombfantastic: My poetry book just hit 3K reads!

CleanWriter: Big surprise, it should have 100,000 more.

jeagerbombfantastic: You really like my poetry, don't you?

CleanWriter: I live a dull, depressing life, Jeager. Your poems actually make me feel things.

jeagerbombfantastic: O_O

CleanWriter: Not in that way, you brat.

jeagerbombfantastic: Haha, sorry. Why is it that your life is so depressing, though?

CleanWriter: Let's see..... my mom was a prostitute and died when I was 3, my best friend got killed to years ago, and when he died, my other best friend (his girlfriend) committed suicide.

jeagerbombfantastic: Oh my god, I'm so sorry! I know how you feel... my mom died when I was pretty young, too, and my dad disappeared not too long after that.

CleanWriter: Everyone's sorry. It doesn't bring them back.

jeagerbombfantastic: I know.

CleanWriter: I have class in a few minutes, gotta go.

jeagerbombfantastic: Same, bye.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

The problem with being 16 in college is that no one wants to hang out with you. Eren had left his friends- Sasha, Connie, Marco, Jean (sort of), Ymir, Christa, and even Mikasa- behind to go to Wall Rose college. Eren was sure Armin wanted to hang out with him, but he was too busy most of the time.

That's why Eren was so happy when Levi offered to take him home. It would be nice to have a companion on the long train ride to his apartment, in Eren's opinion.

After boarding the train, they took seats next to each other. Levi put some white earbuds in, and took out his notebook. They sat in silence, but Eren didn't mind. Someone's silence can say more than any words. He'd written that in a poem.

However, as Eren silently stared at Levi, he didn't 'say' anything. Words just appeared and repeated in Eren's head. Words like; mysterious. Beautiful. Awe-inspiring. Genius. Grey eyes. Alluring. Funny. Lethal. Genius.

He didn't know what he was doing, but he grabbed his notebook and a pencil from his backpack and began to write, while staring at Levi's beautiful, somber face. It must have been his grand destiny to write the words his pencil created, because the words spilled out like he'd written them a thousand times.

From and incredibly mysterious person

the most beautiful thoughts can come.

 

And while his air of boredom

may be annoying to some,

 

I've gotten just close enough

to really, truly know

 

The fascinating things he hides,

and how far his mind can go.

 

I find his body awe-inspiring,

every color, curve, and tone.

 

His beauty, his genius, his aura;

I love him to the bone.

 

His grey eyes see and understand;

The world makes sense; it's his toy.

 

His body's a siren song, alluring me,

for there's magic within this grey-eyed boy.

 

Then, Eren wrote three more words, without any trace of doubt or hestitation:

 

For Levi Ackerman.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Levi realizes why he writes. Later, Eren throws a party with his friends.

It was because of jeagerbombfantastic that Levi realized why he wrote.

Not that many people liked Levi. Auruo and Petra and all those people only listened to him because he was older. Isabel and Farlan had liked him, but they were gone. Hanji- well, Hanji liked him, but Levi didn't always like her. That left only Eren and jeagerbombfantastic, so exactly two people who liked Levi (or one, really).

Levi may have been an ice-cold badass, but he still wanted to be liked. Unfortunately, he didn't have much luck in that department.

Then jeagerbombfantastic pointed something out.

jeagerbombfantastic: I love the comments on 'We Are the Hunters.'

CleanWriter: Why?

jeagerbombfantastic: Everyone's freaking out in caps lock! They're as fanboy-ish as I am.

CleanWriter: You've got a lot of nice comments on your poetry book, too.

jeagerbombfantastict: Yeah, but that's mostly my friend's saying 'Oh wow, that's deep!' You make people excited.

Levi wanted to argue that making people think was just as important as making people feel, but he was to busy smiling. His 'pen pal' was right, he did make people excited. His followers, all 100k of them, cared about him, and that was good enough.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Right after messaging CleanWriter, Eren's apartment doorbell rand. "I got it," he heard Mikasa shout. He walked out of his room anyway, his notebook in hand.

Standing there in the living room were Sasha and Connie. "Hey, guys!" he said, setting his notebook on the coffee table.

They waved. "Ready for the annual March 10th party?" Connie asked.

Four years before, a few weeks before Eren's 13th birthday, Sasha was really confused. She thought Eren's birthday was March 10th, and threw him a surprise party. Despite the mistake, it was the best party they'd ever had, and they'd done it every year since.

"Yep!" Eren said.

A few minutes later, Ymir and Christa arrived, and then Jean and Marco. It seemed they were all arriving in pairs, until Armin arrived. Then they were ready to party.

They had a great time dancing, eating snacks, drinking soda, and more. At some point, while everyone was sitting in the living room, Eren went to go get him, Armin, and Sasha a few drinks. He focused completely on soda. That was the thing about Eren; whether it was climbing a mountain or pouring soda, if he wanted to do something (or someone), he put his full attention to it.

His full attention was divided, however, when he walked into the living room and saw all his friends crowded aroung his notebook. He handed Sasha her soda and Armin his, then sat down next to Mikasa. "What are you guys doing?" he asked.

"Wow, Eren, these poems are really mushy," Jean said.

Ymir nodded. "They're all about the same dude. You're gayer than I am."

"Th-they're not all about him! Right?"

Mikasa shook her head. "They're all about that midget."

I have to write about some other topics, Eren thought, but he knew that wasn't happening. Levi and CleanWriter were the only people who inspired him nowadays.

"Aw, I think they're sweet! You must really like this guy," Christa said. Well, her real name was Historia, but Ymir said she 'looked like a Christa,' so they called her that instead.

"Wait, Ere, are these for the guy you always go to the cafe with?" Sasha asked. Eren nodded.

"Isn't he a lot older than you?" Mikasa asked.

"Well, yeah, but he's smart, funny, and really hot."

Mikasa still looked suspicious, but she didn't say anything. To break the silence, Marco said, "I really like this poem." Eren leaned over so he could see the notebook.

"Oh," he said. "I wrote that one while I was on the train with Levi yesterday."

"It's really pretty. You should publish it," Mikasa said.

If Mikasa thought it was good, it was good. "I will," he said. Then, in a more excited tone, he said, "Speaking of poetry, who wants to volunteer for the first topic of my party trick?"

"Ooh! Me!" Sasha said. "Do one about potatoes!"

"Hmm.... Potatoes are delicious/with their skin so brown/Eating one always/gets rid of my frown!"


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eren publishes his poem, and CleanWriter has a few things to say about it.

jeagerbombfantastic's response to his character in 'We Are the Hunters' was incredible. Moments after Levi posted the chapter which debuted his character, jeagerbombfantastic was commenting things like, "Thank you so much!!!!!" and "He even looks like me!" and "This is great!!!! How did you make him so accurate?"

(Levi didn't tell him, but while Eren mostly inspired Ethan Jeager's appearance, he also inspired a few minor details, like the way the character's ears turned red when he lied)

Of course, jeagerbombfantastic had a lot to say over private messaging, too. He constantly asked for spoilers, opinions on characters, things like that. He talked so much about the story that it was near impossible to get him to talk about anything else- near impossible. It seemed like jeagerbombfantastic had an opinion on every topic- just like Levi, but his opinions were generally nicer. He remembered one conversation they had about cats, of all things.

jeagerbombfantastic: What's your opinion on cats?

CleanWriter: They're pretty quiet and cleanly. Better than dogs, anyway. Why?

jeagerbombfantastic: I might get a cat soon.

CleanWriter: What's your opinion on them?

jeagerbombfantastic: They're cute and sweet, but a bit too quiet, if you ask me.

CleanWriter: I guess.

In the meantime, he felt like his friendship- or relationship, or whatever they were- with Eren was lacking. He could sense that he was hiding something from him, and it frustrated Levi, which was unfair, really, because Levi was hiding his life on the writing site from him.

He did really enjoy spending time with his classmate, though. Their relationship was more personal than the one he had with jeagerbombfantastic. They talked about their social lives, recounted little anecdotes, and proofread each other's compositions for class .

Ah, their compositions Levi had been so busy that he rarely had time to work on 'We Are the Hunters.' That Thursday night, however, he was finally sat down on his bed and writing. Uncle Kenny was out doing some mysterious business, Hanji was partying, so there were no interruptions- just pencil on paper.

The thing was, now that Levi had the time to write, he couldn't think of anything. He'd come up with the perfect villainess: Eren and introduced him to his sister's girlfriend, Annie Leonhard, and Levi automatically thought she would make the perfect evil giant-shifter. He'd already decided that it would be Ethan who captured her, not Leroy, but how to introduce the character? What would Leroy do to help stop her? All Levi could think of was a potential conversation between Leroy and Ethan.

He decided that going onto his site would clear his mind. Actually, he didn't think that: he just wanted an excuse to be online. He opened up his laptop, entered the address, and soon saw that he had a few notifications. One of them read:

jeagerbombfantastic updated 'My Poems.'

Levi eagerly clicked the notification. He read the poem titled 'The Boy with Grey Eyes.'

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Eren had published the poem, finally. He really hoped CleanWriter didn't see it: he didn't want to upset him.

There was still some of Midas's delicious homemade pizza from the party, so he went to the fridge to get some. He ate the slice cold; it was better that way, in his opinion. With the cold pizza in his mouth, Eren went into the living room, where Mikasa was knitting. "Did you publish the poem you wrote about the midget?" she asked.

Erin's eye twitched when she said 'midget.' All the same he said, "Yeah."

The black-haired girl nodded and went back to her knitting. Eren sighed. He loved 'Kasa, but she was so boring sometimes. He finished his pizza and went back into his room.

He re-read some books for a while, but they soon got boring. There was something better about reading stories online. There was more diversity, and those writers were more realistic, especially CleanWriter. He somehow found deep meaning and made life seem poetic, but at the same time, he was realistic. That took talent.

Eren mentally scolded himself as he went to the site. His scolding ceased, however, when he saw that he had a message. He smiled and opened it.

CleanWriter: What the fuck, Jeager?

jeagerbombfantastic: What?!?!?!?!?

CleanWriter: You just wrote a poem about me! How do you know what I look like?

jeagerbombfantastic: No, I didn't! I wrote it about someone else, you must look similar!

CleanWriter: You literally wrote it about me!

jeagerbombfantastic: I did not!

jeagerbombfantastic: Wait, is there a mall, like, really near you?

CleanWriter: Yes, but this isn't relevant, brat.

jeagerbombfantastic: It is. Does it have a non-Starbucks coffee shop.

CleanWriter: Yeah?

jeagerbombfantastic: Go there, and tape something to your shirt that says 'CleanWriter.'

CleanWriter: Why? I'm not doing that.

jeagerbombfantastic: Pleasepleaseplease?

CleanWriter: Ugh, fine.

After receiving that message, Eren ripped a piece of paper out of his notebook, scribble 'jeagerbombfantastic' on it, and taped it to his shirt. Then he threw on a hoody and walked to the door.

"Where are you going?" Mikasa asked.

"To meet someone," he said.

"Who?"

"I'm about to find out."

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Levi felt awkward just standing there in the coffee shop, especially because people kept staring at the sign on his shirt that read "CleanWriter" in huge letters. Still, he stood and waited.

What am I even waiting for? he thought. He wished jeagerbombfantastic had explained more. For all he knew, this was all just some big prank! Maybe I should go home.

He sighed. Despite how stupid this was, he just knew something would come out of it. He didn't know what would come out of it, but it would be something.

With the jingle of Titan Cafe's door, he knew what would come of this.

His favorite, tall brunette walked in. He looked the same as usual, but upon further inspection, he saw a piece of paper that read 'jeagerbombfantastic.' He did a tiny gasp.

Eren's eyes were on him, too, and wide in shock. Their eyes met for just a second, and then they understood. Levi ran to Eren, and soon, they were close. Almost too close.

"So, you're CleanWriter," Eren said, as more of a statement than a question.

"And you're jeagerbombfantastic," Levi said. Eren nodded, and the older man did a small, almost sad smile. "I should've known."

"I'm really glad you're the same person," Eren said.

"Why?"

"Because now I won't have to choose between you two."

Then, they closed the gap between them as they kissed. It was a soft, short kiss and not nearly enough to satisfy the tension and love between them, but it was enough to let each other know how they felt.

When they broke apart, Eren took the liberty of holding Levi's delicate, pale hands as they stared at each other. Levi couldn't help but admire Eren's eyes. It wasn't just their beautiful sea-green color, but the way they looked at Levi, like he understood him. Eren saw the world and Levi the way Levi saw the world, and himself. Only, Eren saw things slightly better.

Does Eren like my eyes, too? Levi wondered. Then he remembered a line Eren had written......

 

His body's a siren song, alluring me.

There's magic within this grey-eyed boy.

 

...... and he knew that Eren did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you all enjoyed thatchapter! Writing it made me so happy :)


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eren and Levi have a study date, and Eren nearly burns down Levi's kitchen.

Eren was quite possibly the worst cook in existence.

All Levi asked for was popcorn on their first study date. It was literally all he asked for. And yet, upon coming into his- no, Uncle fucking Kenny's kitchen, he saw a panicked Eren and the smell of smoke-polluting the air.

"What the hell?" he asked as the smoke alarm went off. He fanned the air as Eren emptied the popcorn pot into the sink, making a little pitter-patter as the burn kernels hit the sink.

"I forgot to put oil in the bottom of the pot, so when I opened the lid a really burnt kernel hit a towel, and it caught fire!" Eren explained.

Levi sighed, then coughed as he got a cup of water, and poured it over the flaming towel. Eren and Levi continued to cough and fan the smoke, both of them cursing occasionally.

When the smoke FINALLY cleared up, Levi stared at Eren's ashy face. He wore an apologetic grin, which was just too adorable. Levi chuckled a bit and said, "You freaking dork, let's clean this up." Eren sighed in relief.

As the brunette got a broom, he said, "You're just as dorky as I am."

"That's the point."

"Point of what?"

"This study date."

. . . . . . . . . . .

After they cleaned up the kitchen, they both retreated back to Levi's room.

Levi's room was neat and well-organized, probably because he only really had two pieces of furniture; his desk and his bed. Nothing fancy.

They both sat on the bed and pulled out their textbooks. They both had tests the following night- Eren's was in history, Levi's was in math- so they decided to help each other out.

"Can you quiz me?" Eren asked, handing Levi his history book.

"Sure," Levi replied, and began to ask Eren question relating to his test.

As the evening continued, they both helped each other with studying. Surprisingly, Eren actually understood a lot of Levi's math, but his posture progressively got lower and lazier unitl he was lying on the bed, practically asleep.

"I'm bored," he finally groaned. "I don't care about history, it has nothing to do with my major."

"You need to do it, Eren," Levi said, not looking up from his math.

"Please, can we stop? We've been studying all night, with no date!"

Levi sighed; the brat was right. "Fine. What do you want to do?"

"Watch a movie, like 'Big Hero Six!'"

"We should be at least a little productive."

"How about I read and proofread all of the upcoming chapters of 'We Are the Hunters,' Mr.CleanWriter?"

"Okay."

Eren eagerly got up and grabbed Levi's notebook from the giant desk. He picked up where the last (published) chapter had left off. Levi hovered over Eren's shoulder, watching for any reaction. He knew that the teen would love it: ever thing he knew about Eren proved that. Still, he watched anxiously as he read. What would he think of the way Leroy treated Ethan? How would he react to Hangi's obsession with his character?

Eren finished the last chapter Levi had written, where someone had killed Hangi's giant test-subjects. "This is incredible!" Eren said, causing Levi to sigh in relief. "Who killed those giants?"

"That's for me to know and for you to find out," the short man said with a smirk. "Any notes?"

"Yeah, two, actually."

"What are they?"

"One; you should put my friends in the story."

"I'm already going to put in Armin, Mikasa, and her girlfriend."

"No, I mean all of my friends. Ymir, Christa, Sasha, Marco, Reiner, etcetera."

"I don't know any of these people."

"I'll introduce them to you, how's that?"

"Ugh, fine, but only for you. Don't go telling people that I'm nice."

"Haha, I won't."

"What's number two?"

"You should send it to a publisher."

"What? Hell no, I suck."

"You know that's not true."

"Just no. The story's too creepy and I'm too mean, they'd reject me out of spite."

"Your writing's so good, they'd have to accept you!"

"No."

"Please?" Eren looked at Levi with wide, sad eyes, like a puppy. Levi sighed: he couldn't disappoint those eyes. If only he could get something from Eren from all this.....

Suddenly, an idea occurred to him.

"I'll send my work to some publishers, but I have to finish it first, and you have to write a poem to start off each chapter," Levi said.

Eren's mouth gaped. "Y-you'd let m-me write f-for your book?" he stuttered. Levi nodded. "Oh, Levi, you're the best! I'll get to work first thing tomorrow," he said, then hugged him.

After they broke apart, Eren looked after Levi, then smiled. "You're so cute, I could tickle you!" he said, then began tickling Levi all over. The raven haired man didn't even blink. "You're not ticklish, are y-"

He never got to finish his sentence, because Levi pounced and began tickling him all over, making him laugh hysterically.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hanji is a crazy lady. 'Nuff said.

The worst mistake Levi ever made in his life was not telling Hanji about his relationship with Eren.

It wasn't that he forgot about telling her immediately; he completely forgot to tell her, period. She didn't even find out until she spied on his texts (she spied on Levi's texts at least once a week, calling it 'Grump Tests,' a way to see how grumpy he was being to other people. He'd protested it at first, but quickly gave up).

"WHAT THE HELL, LEVI?!?!?!?!?" she'd shouted upon seeing his texts to Eren, pouncing on the short man.

"'What the hell' to you, too!" Levi said, trying to push Hanji off of him. No such luck.

"You're dating Eren and you DIDN'T TELL ME?" Hanji shouted, then shook Levi back and forth furiously.

"Jesus motherfucking Christ, that's what this is about?"

"Yes! I guess jeagerbombfantastic is out of the question though, huh?"

"Nope, Eren is jeagerbombfantastic."

"What? He's-"

Hanji then screamed for three minutes straight before finally gasping and choking for air and saying, "IDEA!!!!" Then she ran off to her apartment, leaving Levi angry, alone, and confused.

. . . . . . . . . . .. . 

Eren & Levi's next date did not go as expected.

They were planning on going to the movies to see a new horror film, which Hanji supported waaaaaaaaay too much. She even put the address to her 'absolutely total favorite movie theater' for her 'little gaybies.'

Big mistake.

When they arrived, there was no movie theater, just a yellow little house. "Why are we at Armin's house?" Eren asked, peering out the window of Levi's car.

Levi raised an eyebrow. "This belongs to the blonde coconut?"

"Yeah. Hanji must've put in address."

Levi scoffed. "If I know, this no mistake. Let's ring the doorbell."

Eren nodded in confirmation, and then he and Levi got out of the car and walked to the door of the little, yellow house. Eren pressed the doorbell, then waited.

When the door opened, it was Hanji they saw, not Armin. Levi gave Eren a 'told-you-so' look, then turned to Hanji. "Should I even ask?" he said in an exasperated voice.

Hanji then said, "Close your eyes, and don't open them until you hear a 'ding!'" Eren did as he was told willingly, but Hanji had to put one hand over Levi's eyes. She then led them into some room, where the air was filled with the sound of mumbling and whispers.

Eren and Levi finally opened there eyes upon hearing the 'ding' of a spoon hitting a glass. They saw themselves surrounded by Eren's friends. Eren waved to a few of them, but stood still once he heard Hanji say, "You're probably wondering why I called you all here tonight."

"Yeah, Hanji, I did not agree to this!" Armin said.

"You should've at least fed us!" Sasha protested.

"I know, I know, but I have an important announcement to make. For those of you who don't know me, I'm Hanji Zoë, with a German 'e.' I'm Levi's next-door-neighbor and best friend.

"Speaking of Levi, he's our guest of honor tonight. With the help of his boyfriend (and your friend), Eren Jeager, he is going to try to get his novel published!

"But my little yaoi baby can't do this without your help; he needs you all to be characters, and in order to do that, he needs to get to know you all better, and- yes, Sasha?"

"Will you feed us if we mingle?"

"Um, yes."

"I'll do it, then!!!!!"

Levi smiled a little as everyone gathered around to talk to him. Maybe Hanji wasn't the worst best friend ever, after all. Of course, it would've been nice to spend the evening with Eren, but Eren's friends were very entertaining with their quirky personalities and stories about his boyfriend. Levi found Armin and Jean particularly interesting, but Christa and Marco had potential as characters, too.

After hours of chatting, eating, and being slightly crazy, Eren and Levi left Armin's house and got into their car. 

As Levi turned on the car, Eren smiled at him expectantly. "What do you think of my friends?" he asked.

"They'll make great characters," Levi said, "but none of them are as interesting as you."


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Levi makes a miracle.

Levi had very little time for his own writing.

The funny thing was that, Levi was actually writing more than usual. It was just that all of the things he was writing were school essays and assignments from creative writing class. With all that, he had absolutely no time for working on 'We Are the Hunters,' not to mention that Eren had to borrow his notebook for a few days while he worked on his poems to start off each chapter. Levi began to think that he would never finish his story.

That all changed one Saturday evening.

He'd spent all morning reading all sorts of things. He finished a horror novel he'd been reading, and then he read a lot of poetry, and not just Eren's; Poe, Shakespeare, Yeats, Frost.... and Eren's. It was all so beautiful and some of it inspiring, especially Edgar Allen Poe's creepier poems........ it inspired Levi to write.

So he began to do so. He introduced Eren's friends' characters with names like 'Misasha Ackerton," "Conan Winter," "Sally Braus," and "John Keistein." He made sure to included all of their little quirks and habits, and the annoying ticks he had noticed. Then began the adventure.

He wrote all evening, until it was 3:00 the next morning, when he, out of nowhere, passed out on his notebook.

The next morning, when he woke up, he realized what he'd done. It was sort of a shock, and it left him confused, but he knew that he had to tell Eren. He picked up his phone and called him.

"Wassup, Levi?" the younger boy asked as he picked up.

"I finished 'We Are the Hunters."

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

After a few minutes of screaming, Eren announced that he would be coming over to read the final chapters, and he did.

He didn't even say 'hello' to Levi when he arrived; he just ran into Levi's room, pounced on the notebook, and opened it, and Levi smirked as he intensely read the story. "He's both funny and cute," Levi though, bemused.

Eren finished the book 30 minutes later, and promptly screamed. "OH MY GOD! YOU CAN'T END IT LIKE THAT! WHO ARE THE OTHER GIANT-SHIFTERS?" he screeched.

Levi clamped his hands over his ears. "Can you please stop screeching? You're gonna summon the devil, or worse, Hanji."

Eren laughed a bit. "Sorry, but that was really good. You wrote me and my friends really, really well."

"Thanks."

"So, you ready to submit it to the publishers?"

"If your poems are ready."

"Ah, that reminds me! I have a surprise for you! Would you go grab my backpack from your living room?"

"I'm not your slave," Levi said, but went to get it anyway.

When he gave Eren the bag, the green-eyed boy grabbed a bunch of papers from it and gave it to Levi.

"I've written the poems for all of the chapters you've written, except for the last five," he explained. Levi nodded, impressed.

He read all of Eren's little quatrains. All of them fit their chapters perfectly, and while a few of the were a bit corny, Levi was honored to know that his story made Eren feel the way he did.

This is all really great, Eren. One suggestion; write 'a member anew' instead of 'a new member' for this last one. It fits better," Levi said.

Eren smiled. "Aww, you're teaching me to be a great writer, just like you!"

Levi shook his head. "I'm not. I want to make you better than me. You do not want to be like me."

"Yes, I do!"

"No, you don't. I've been hurt, hated, and disappointed, and seen more of the world than I care for. As a result, I'm just a bitter old man."

Eren laughed. "Levi, you're only 23! And I know all that stuff about you, but everyone has flaws, right? And these flaws have perks! The fact that you've seen so much makes you smarter, and while it's not good to be bitter, it makes everyone too scared to mess with you! Also, you never seem depressed!"

"You wouldn't know, I'm never depressed around you," Levi grumbled.

"Well, I guess I'll have to stick around then, won't I?" Eren said with a smile.

Levi couldn't take it anymore: he kissed him. This kiss was deep and passionate as their tongues danced together and their lips moved in sync. They finally released all of their built-up passion and- they finally admitted it- love. 

When they broke apart, Levi looked at Eren and said, "I love you, you optimistic brat." 

"I love you too, Levi," Eren replied.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

They spent the rest of the day chatting, mostly about possible publishers. Hanji came over at some point with cookies, and they all ate and hung out together.

Their friendly banter ended abruptly when Levi's Uncle Kenny opened the apartment door. "Levi, tell your friend and your boyfriend to go," he ordered. "We have to talk."

Levi was about to yell at his relative when Eren said, "It's okay, Levi. We'll go."

"Yeah, I have a party to go to, anyway," Hanji said. Eren gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, then walked off.

When they left, Kenny turned to Levi with a serious expression on his face. "We're both in big trouble, Levi."


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Uncle Kenny's been a bad guy, and now Levi and Eren must pay the price.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the short chapter!!!

"What the fuck did you do now?" Levi asked, exasperated.

Kenny sighed. Even from far away, Levi smelled alcohol in his breath. "Remember when you were 15, we had the big fight about my working with the mafia, and I promised I'd stop?"

"Yeah."

"Well........ I lied. I'm still doin' work for that gang, but well, I failed a veeeeeeeeeeeeeery important job," Kenny said with a slur. "And now they want to kill me. And you. It was very important."

"What the fuck? Why me?"

"You're the reason the mission failed. You called me at the most important moment, and I got caught. Had to kill two guys to get out."

Levi couldn't believe what he was hearing. "You're trying to tell me that you were secretly doing illegal mafia shit, and you got caught, but somehow it's my fault?"

"I'm just tryin' to protect you!"

"You're doing a crappy job!"

"Fine, but just so you know, if they find out you have someone you care about, they may try to target them."

Levi stared at his uncle, scowling, until he realized what his uncle was talking about. No, he thought. "You want me to break up with Eren, don't you?"

"Cooooooooooooooooooooooorect!"

"Fuck no. It'll break the kid's heart."

"It's for his own good. Plus, he'd be preeeeeeeeeeeeetty heartbroken if anything happened to ya! It's better to get the heartbreak over now."

In a weird way, that reminded Levi of something Isabel had said after Farlan died. "I wish he'd broken up with me," she'd said, sobbing. "Then maybe, I wouldn't feel so much damn heartbreak now."

She'd said that 2 days before she committed suicide.

The idea of Eren committing suicide over Levi's dead body was absolutely atrocious. "Fine, I'll do it for Eren's sake," Levi said, "but fuck you, old man."

 

. . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . .. . . .. .. . 

 

Later that night, Uncle Kenny had gone to sleep, and Levi was in his room, preparing to make the call.

He really didn't want to break up with Eren. How could he live with those beautiful poems, his bright green eyes, and his sunny attitude, so close, but so far out of reach? How could he live without being able to listen to that dork's stories, and then tell him his own?

He hated it, but he knew he had to do it. He remembered how much pain Isabel had been in after Farlan's death, to the point that she killed herself. Whether it was him that the mafia would target or Eren, Levi was sure that Eren would go through lots of pain. He couldn't do that to Eren; he'd feel guilty for his whole life.

The more he thought about it, the more angry he got at Uncle Kenny. He'd told him to stop working with the mafia 8 years ago, and what had he done? Continued, of course! Now the stupid fucktard had messed up, and he, Levi, and Eren were all going to pay the price. If his idiot uncle had just stopped helping the mafia, none of this would have happened! He wanted to punch him in the nose and not break up with Eren.

But finally, he tapped Eren's contact on his phone, and pressed 'call.' Unwilling tears welled in his eyes as the phone rang, but he fought to keep them there rather than on his cheeks.

Levi kept praying and praying that it would go to voicemail and he could wait, but unfortunately, Eren picked up. Levi cursed under his breath.

"Hey, Levi, you're calling late. What's up?"

"I........... we have to break up."


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eren protests their break-up, and we get a glimpse into Levi's past.

"Wha.... what? Why? Was it something I said?"

"It's a long story, Eren."

"Well, tell me!"

"No...... dammit, just stay away from me, brat! It's for your own good."

"I'm coming over."

Levi opened his mouth to argue, but then realized that Eren had hung up. Well, I guess he's coming over, he thought. Eren was naïve and irrational, but very determined. Nothing could stop him now.

20 minutes later, Eren busted into the apartment. Levi was very glad Uncle Kenny wasn't awake to see his boyfriend busting open the door at 11:00 p.m.

"Why are you breaking up with me, Levi?" Eren asked, tears sparkling in his green eyes. He looked more angry than sad.

Levi sighed. "It's for your own good."

"How is breaking up with you 'good?'"

"You don't understand."

"Then explain it so I do understand! I won't give up on the guy of my dreams for no reason!"

"Fine. My uncle's been doing secret work for the mafia, and I unknowingly fucked up one of his stupid schemes. Now they're targeting both me and him, and they may use you to mess with me. Happy?"

"That's fine. I can protect myself!"

"That's not the only thing. If I get killed, I don't want you to break down and commit suicide or something."

Eren looked shocked. "What? I won't do that! I'm strong!" 

"Isabel was strong, too, you brat," Levi spat.

Eren now looked confused. "Isabel?" he asked.

Levi bit his lip, and then exhaled. "Ever since I was a kid, I was friends with a boy and girl named Isabel Magnolia and Farlan Church. We were really crazy little fucktards, and we always stuck together. It was actually really nice.

"One day, being the free spirit she was, Isabel dared Farlan to run across the train tracks with her. He couldn't exactly say no to his girlfriend, so he agreed. Isabel made it across the tracks..... Farlan didn't."

"So those were the friends you mentioned....." Eren whispered.

"Isabel was beyond heartbroken, and she blamed herself for his death. She was so fucking sad that I came home one day to see her body on the floor, a knife in the chest. She left a stupid note that said, 'I'm with him now.' She...... she just left me."

"Levi, I would never do that, if only for your sake! Besides, I'd rather die at the hands of the mafia, knowing I was with you for as long as possible than live knowing I never got to expand our relationship- not that it even needs that much expanding! We practically live together, seeing how much we visit each other, so why give that up?"

"But we don't live together. We haven't even fucked each other yet."

"Well, let's change that!"

"What? The fucking thing?"

"No! Let's move in together!"

"No! We've only been dating for two weeks!"

"But we've known each other so much longer! Besides, it'll make working on 'We Are the Hunters' together easier, and you can easily protect me. Did you forget that I'm great at cleaning?"

Levi looked skeptical, then said, "Fine. Start moving your stuff here tomorrow."

"Yes! Woo-hoo!" Eren cried as he hugged Levi. 

They were silent for a moment as they hugged, neither one believing that they were going to live together. At some point, though, Levi leaned into Eren's ear and whispered, "The fact that we haven't fucked yet is a problem........................... maybe we should fix that."


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eren moves in, and his friends come over for a bit of housewarming..................... and help.

Eren was good at moving. He didn't have too much stuff, and he managed to deplete what little possessions he had to fit them in Levi's room.

Levi remembered how nice he felt when he saw Eren come to the door with his first box.

"So, Mikasa actually let you do it," he said with a smirk.

Eren chuckled. "Well, she was pretty upset when I told her, but she agreed when I told her you have martial arts experience."

Levi raised an eyebrow, and Eren gasped, "You do have martial arts experience, right? I just assumed because-"

Levi sighed. "I'm just messing with you, Eren. I'm a martial arts badass."

Eren sighed in relief.

 

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

 

With a hearty sigh, Eren fell onto he and Levi's bed where they'd spent the previous night..... having fun. He'd managed to get all of his boxes over in one day, but it hadn't been an easy task. Now, he had a chance to rest-or at least, he thought so.

Suddenly, Levi shouted, "Eren, I didn't know your friends were helping with the move."

"They're not," Eren said, confused. He left his room and saw all of his friends, from Mikasa to Jean. Connie stood directly next to Levi, a big box in his hands.

"Eren! Mikasa told us about the mafia thing with Levi, and we came over to help!" Christa explained.

Eren smiled. "That's really sweet of you guys! What's the plan?"

"We're going to put a whole bunch of gifts in this box," Connie said, "and mail it to the mafia in Levi's name!"

"That's a stupid plan," Jean said. "We don't have the mafia's address."

"I'll get their head quarter's address from my shitty uncle," Levi said, then walked of to his Uncle Kenny's room.

"While we wait, let's start packin'!" Sasha said. She and Mikasa both placed containers of food in the box.

Everyone had something to contribute. Annie put in a book on martial arts history and theory (she was a security guard), and Reiner and Bertholdt put in some......... explicit movies. Connie put in some candy and Armin donated a little robot he'd built. Jean put in a huge pile of money, which (while Eren would never admit it) was probably the most valuable item in the whole box.

Finally, Levi emerged. "I got the address," he said, handing a piece of paper to Connie.

"L-Levi, you're just on time! Do you have a-any short stories to put in the box?" Armin said.

"What about the one you wrote for Isabel? Or that horror story you published?" Eren asked.

"I'll get the horror story," Levi said.

When he returned, he put the short story in the box. "Put one of your 'We Are the Hunters' poems in," he said to Eren.

"Okay, which one do you like best?"

Levi thought for a moment, then said, "The one from the fifth chapter."

Eren nodded, retrieved the poem, and placed it in the box.

"Well, I think we're ready to wrap this up- literally! We'll send it tomorrow," Christa said.

 

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

 

After wrapping up the box, Eren decided to make everyone a snack. When Levi finished his snack, he went over to Connie to thank him for the idea that would keep Eren safe.

"Oh, it wasn't my idea," the bald boy said upon receiving Levi's gratitude, "it was Ymir's."

Levi raised his eyebrows and looked at Ymir. She always seemed rude, almost selfish........ why did she do it?

He walked over to her. "Hey, uh, thanks for saving me and my uncle's lives..... and Eren's," he said awkwardly.

Ymir sighed. "I'm a selfish person, Levi," she said, "so when I learned about your worries for Eren, all I could think about was how I'd feel if the person I cared about was in trouble." She glanced towards Christa, who was laughing a few yards away.

Now it makes sense, Levi thought. "Well, thanks, brat," he said. What he didn't say was that he found Ymir's protection of Christa rather sweet and relatable. 

Then he went off in search of Eren.


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eren finishes the last poem.

"Hey Levi." 

"What?"

"Which word do you think is more poetic: 'razed' or 'smited?'" 

"Uh, I don't know. You're the poet."

"But if you had to choose?"

"Razed."

"Smited it is, then!"

"What? No!"

"Ah, I'm just messing with you."

Those sort of conversations were common in Eren and Levi's (and Kenny's) house. Eren always wanted to make sure the words in his poems were perfectly, and to help him, Levi was the perfect person to help him choose.

"That's it," Eren said.

"What's 'it?'" Levi asked.

"My poem is 'it.' It was the last poem I needed to write for 'We Are the Hunters.'"

Eren cleared his throat and then read aloud;

"The giantess razed the city

and we reached no grand goal,

but there are surely other

humans with such wicked souls." 

"I like it," Levi said. "It definitely fits the chapter."

"So, are we eady to start submitting to publishers?"

Levi nodded. "Which should we submit to?"

"Um...... I don't know. It's your book!"

"They're your poems."

"Okay, true. Well..... my friend Ilse works for a publishing company, so maybe submitting to hers might get us a better chance of being accepted."

"Great. I also know a publishing company right in the city, called 'Shinganshina Publishers' that we should consider submitting to."

"Great idea! We should also consider going to 'Reeve's Publishing.'"

"Reeves? That greedy son of a bitch?"

"Yeah, Mikasa hates him, too, but he's one of the largest publishers in the country. We'd be missing out if we didn't submit to him."

"Tch. Fine."

"Great!"

They sat in silence for a while, sat on their couch and holding hands. Levi was just thinking, which was actually slightly remarkable. Befor meeting Eren, his mind had been like a black wall: dark, hard, and blank. He never thought before he spoke, and he rarely thought, period. His existence was dull....... but now, thanks to Eren, his mind was far more colorful.

His random thoughts were disturbed by Eren saying, "I can't wait to see 'We Are the Hunters,' published!" 

"There's no guarantee that we'll get accepted by a publisher, you know," Levi said.

"It is guaranteed, with your spectacular writing."

Levi a smiled a tiny bit at the words, but continued staring at the wall in front of him.

"Y'know, this is the part when you're supposed to compliment my poetry."

Levi snorted. "I already spoil you too much, brat."

"Eh, you're right."

"I always am."

"Okay, Mr. Always-Right, why don't you tell me who should do the cover?"

"Hanji's an okay artist."

"Nah, she'll make the cover be Ethan and Leroy kissing or something."

"True."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for such a short chapter! Next chapter should be longer, I promise <3


	17. Chapter  17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Erwin tells the students about a writing fair.

Class was more exciting than usual that Monday.

While Uncle Kenny was back in the mafia's good graces, Levi had insisted that he stopped working for him, which meant a little less money for Kenny, which meant no more buying train tickets for Levi, which meant Levi had to drive himself and Eren to college.

They both enjoyed driving somewhere together, but that wasn't the only exciting part of their day. The most exciting part happened near the end of their creative writing class.

A few minutes before the bell rang, Mr. Smith said, "I have an important announcement to make."

A few people groaned, but Erwin continued.

"For 52 years now, a writing festival has been held right here in Shinganshina every May. I normally bring my classes to the fair, as it is a very enlightening experience.

"At the fair, people but and sell books from all genres, and there are lectures given by great writers. I've hear Dot Pixis himself will be speaking this year! There are also original poetry and prose recitations and students can read their short stories aloud.

"Now, you could only listen and read at the writing fair and you would still become a much better writer. However, the readings and recitations are a great place to get your writing discovered. I'd prefer if you wrote a short story or poem for the fair. If you want to write something, please raise your hand so I can sign you up."

Almost everyone, including Eren and Levi, raised their hands.

Erwin smiled. "Good. Get to work immediately."

 

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . .

 

Eren convinced Levi to sit with Armin and Hanji at lunch, but later regretted it.

At first, they had pleasant conversation. Levi told Hanji and Armin about the writing fair, and they both promised they'd come. But then, Hanji and Armin started talking amongst themselves, leaving Levi and Eren feeling like third wheels.

To feel less third-wheel-ish, Eren turned to Levi and said, "So, what should we write for the fair?"

Levi shrugged. "I dunno."

"Gee, thanks for your insight. I'm serious here."

"Okay, um, maybe you could write something about spring or someshit?"

"Not a bad idea. What will you write?" 

"Probably something horror."

Eren laughed. "Typical Levi. Hey, maybe we should write something together!"

"Nah, we've done that way to much lately. Plus, which one of us would read it? Whoever didn't read it wouldn't get as much credit."

"True." 

"Well, anyway, maybe we should get going and leave these two," Levi said, motioning towards Hanji and Armin, "alone."

"Yeah, okay," Eren said. "I'll figure out what I want my poem to be about when I get home."

"Wait! Eren! I know what you should write your poem about: your passionate, undying love for Levi!" Hanji said.

"H-he already has e-enough of those," Armin said with a small smile.

Eren blushed while Levi smirked. "I-I do not!" the brunette protested. 

Hanji and Armin giggled.

 

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

 

Later that evening, Levi was driving Eren home.

"So, should we work on out stuff when we get home?" Levi asked while he drove.

Eren nodded. "I've decided to write a poem about memories."

Levi grunted in acknowledgement, then suddenly remembered their conversation at lunc. "Do you really have a lot of poems about me?"

Eren blushed. "Well...... yeah."

"Why?"

"You're a great subject for poetry. You're mysterious, troubled, but also smart and awe-inspiring. You're like poetry in motion."


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hanji and Levi both have some news.

Everything was peaceful when they got home. Uncle Kenny had left a note saying, "Gone drinking," on the fridge, so they were all alone. Naturally, they out on some music and began to write- it just si happened that they both liked Ed Sheeran.

They wrote the way they usually did: Eren asking Levi which words sounded more poetic, Levi cursing when he misspelled a word. Levi would occasionally switch to heavy metal because it was more inspiring for writing horror. It annoyed Eren a bit, but he complied when he saw Levi's focused face as he wrote rapidly.

"Levi's writing is an incredible gift that needs to be shared with the world," he thought. "If this music helps him accomplish that, then let it play. Let it play louder than anything in the world!"

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Their peace was soon interrupted by Hanji.

She busted open Levi's door (Eren wondered if she had a key), and shouted, "OHMYGODYOUWON'TBELIEVEWHATJUSTHAPPENED!!"

They both sighed and shut their notebooks. Eren turned off the music. "Okay, calm down, shitty glasses. What happened?"

Hanji sat down and took a deep breath. "So, Armin and I have been using frog DNA for experiments that may affect the future if correction genetic mutisms. We got the results we wanted, so I decided to throw a party to celebrate!"

"Of course you did," Levi muttered.

"Anyway, at the lab party, Moblit drank waaaaay too much and we ran out if room for bottles in the trash bin, so we decided to play spin-the-bottle. When it was my turn to spin, it landed on Armin!"

Eren did a tiny gasp. 

"So we kissed, of course, and it was really nice. He tasted like milk, did you know that, Eren? He was super-duper blushy when we broke apart.

"Later on, he told me that he'd actually had a crush on me for a long time! The little dork was just so cute when he said it, I just had to kiss him again! Long story short, we're together now!"

"So.....why did you have to bust down our door to tell us that you made out with my best friend, twice? I'd actually rather not know about Armin's romantic happenings," Eren said. 

"Because I'm HAPPY!" Hanji shouted, then flopped on the floor.

"Well, this is just peachy. Eren, if you want, you can go be a third wheel with Hanji and Armin while I pack tomorrow," Levi said.

Eren raised an eyebrow. "Pack? For what?"

"Oh, damn, right. I got a date to meet with the head of your friend Ilse's publishing company."

"Really? That's fantastic!" 

"Yeah, but headquarters are in Wisconsin. I have to be all the way over there by Wednesday afternoon."

"So you only have tomorrow to get ready. Yikes."

"Well," Hanji said, interrupting their conversation, "I'm going to leave you two lovebirds to your own devices. Toodles!"

"Bye! Try to keep Armin innocent for as long as you can!" Eren cried.

"I can't promise that!" Hanji said. Then she walked out the door.


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eren and Levi message yet again while Levi's away.

jeagerbombfantastic: Heyo! <3

CleanWriter: Why are you PMing me instead of texting like a normal person?

jeagerbombfantastic: Because this is more romantic! We fell in love in this inbox!

CleanWriter: I'll have you know I was falling in love with you before we started messaging online, brat.

jeagerbombfantastic: Well, I could point out that you happened to be online at the exact second that I messaged you!

CleanWriter: Tch.

jeagerbombfantastic: Anyway, what are you doing before I messaged you?

CleanWriter: Uploading another chapter of 'We Are The Hunters' onto here.

jeagerbombfantastic: AWESOME! You're including my poem, right?

CleanWriter: Of course I am.

jeagerbombfantastic: Fantastic! I haven't updated my poetry book in a while, maybe I should.

CleanWriter: Upload the one about age.

jeagerbombfantastic: The acrostic one? Sure! I'm on it!

jeagerbombfantastic: Published!

CleanWriter: Great. I don't see why you can't listen to Mr. Smith when he tells you to write and publish your stuff, but you listen to me.

jeagerbombfantastic: Eh, he's not as cool as you. That reminds me, how'd it go with the publisher?

CleanWriter: I'll tell you when I get home tomorrow.

CleanWriter: What were YOU doing when you messaged me?

jeagerbombfantastic: Doing homework, or at least trying to. Armin and Hanji are doing......... something in the other apartment .

CleanWriter: Oh my holy fuck that's disgusting.

jeagerbombfantastic: Agreed. Theough, I'm sort of used to it, seeing how often Annie comes over.

CleanWriter: Please stop.

jeagerbombfantastic: LOL, I'm stopping.

CleanWriter: Maybe we should get revenge on Armin and Hanji when I get back.

jeagerbombfantastic: Okay, but how?

CleanWriter: I think you know how.

jeagerbombfantastic: Ooooh ;) okay.

jeagerbombfantastic: Speaking of coming home, you're taking the early plane home tomorrow, right?

CleanWriter: Yes.

jeagerbombfantastic: Then you have an early morning! Why are you up so late?

CleanWriter: You know full well why. It's past midnight.

jeagerbombfantastic: You remembered!

CleanWriter: Damn right I remembered. Happy 17th birthday, Eren.


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Levi comes home for Eren's birthday, and Mikasa has a surprise for the both of them.

The plane ride home was a long one. It had lots of turbulence, an the movie that played was 'Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief,' which Levi hated. The taxi ride wasn't much better: the drive was to talkative for Levi. But it was all worth it when he waked into the apartment saw Eren.

Armin, Mikasa, and his whole gang were there, too, along with Hanji. They'd decorated Eren in plastic, beaded necklaces and a 'HAPPY BIRTHDAY!' hat, and all sat around him, beaming as they handed him wrapped presents.

When he saw Levi, Eren shouted, "LEVI!" and ran towards him.

They hugged, and Levi kissed him. "Happy birthday, Eren," he said.

Eren smiled. "Thanks. How'd it go with the publisher?"

"Not well. I was rejected."

"Aw, bummer! Did he say why?"

"He said it was too creepy, with no 'happy ending' in sight."

"Ugh, what a naïve guy!"

"Well, you're sure to be accepted soon!" Hanji said.

"Yeah, you're a really good writer!" Marco said.

Levi's mouth twitched as he suppressed a smile. "Thanks."

"Well, should we get to present-opening?" Eren asked.

"Greedy brat," Levi said but they all began to and Eren his gifts.

Levi gave Eren a deluxe rhyming dictionary, which Eren knew he'd find extremely useful. Sasha and Connie bought him a cookbook, Jean and Marco gave him an Amazon gift card, Ymir and Christa gave him a novel, and Armin gave him a robot that he and Hanji had made.

Mikasa was the last to give a gift. She presented him with a big box covered in baby-blue wrapping paper. Eren opened it with gusto, only to find..... a scratching post.

"Uh, thanks, Mikasa," he said half-heartedly, forcing a smile.

"We don't have a cat," Levi said bluntly.

Mikasa didn't respond. She just clapped her hands and, like magic, a very large, brown tabby cat trotted in from the kitchen. Eren squealed and Levi did a little gasp.

"Oh my god, Mikasa, you got me a cat!" Eren shouted. He ran towards the cat and swooped it up into his arm.

"Kitten, actually. Eight months old," Mikasa said.

Hanji had gone over to pet the kitten , too. "He sure is big for an eight-month old!" she said.

"No shit," Levi said. "That is one big-ass cat."

"He's so cute, though!" Eren said. "Let's call him Tree!"

"Tree? What sort of name is that?"

"I dunno, but he seems to like it! Here, you hold him!"

"Eren passed the cat to Levi, and Tree immediately began to purr.

"Aw, he likes him!" Christa said.

"Levi's sorta like a cat himself," Eren chuckled.

Levi wasn't paying attention. He was scratching Tree's chin and whispering, "Good cat. What a big-ass Tree."

 

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

 

Eren's friends left an hour later. Hanji took longer to kick out, but eventually Kenny got the job done before retreating to his room.

Tree was purring in Levi's lap, and Eren sat next tohim.

"You have two more presents, you know," Levi said.

"Really? From who?" 

"Me."

First, Levi reached his hand into his suitcase and took out his notebook, opened it, and gave it to Eren.

"I finished my short story," he said.

Eren grinned and began to read. The story was very eerie, about a girl who got kidnapped into her own dreams, and of course, Eren loved every second of it.

"OHMYGODISSHEDEAD?" Eren asked at the end of the story.

"No one knows," Levi said.

"Ugh, why are you so good at cliffhangers? Your next present better be a sequel!"

"It isn't."

"What is it, then?"

"Here's a hint: it involves our birthday suits."


	21. Chapter 21

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After turning in their pieces for the writing fair, Erwin gives Levi a piece of advice.

Everyone was very excited when Erwin walked in.

"Hello, class," he said, his deep voice reaching even to the back of the room.

"Hello, Mr. Smith," they all chanted back.

"How many of you have completed your works for the writing fair?"

Most of the class raised their hands.

Erwin smiled. "Excellent. Please turn them in so I can read them. The rest of class will be for freewriting."

Eren and Levi quickly handed Erwin their pieces, then sat back down behind their desk.

"I'm going to write a limerick about Mr. Smith," Eren told Levi with a giggle.

Levi smirked, then took out his notebook. He was working on a top-secret project that not even Eren or Hanji knew about: a sequel to 'We Are the Hunters.'

The sequel would be called 'The First King,' and it would mostly focus on Christa and Ymir's characters, as well as a rebellion within the walls. It was his way of saying 'thank you' to Ymir for helping to save Eren. He didn't plan on having too many giants in it, but he was going to end it with Hangi creating a new, easy-to-use tool for killing giants. Levi was keeping it a secret because he wanted to surprise Eren with the news on the day of the writing fair.

Throughout the freewrite, Erwin called people over so they could discuss their work. When Levi's name was called, he immediately jogged over towards Erwin's desk.

"So, Levi, this is actually really good. All I can say is that you should add a few more sensory details, but otherwise, it's perfect," Erwin said.

"Thanks," Levi said blandly.

"By the way, you and Eren live together, right?"

Levi nodded and Erwin handed him a small, folded piece of paper.

"Give this to Eren," he said. "It's his corrections. Don't read it, just give it to him."

"Okay."

They were silent for a few seconds aside from the sound of pencils scratching paper. Then Erwin said, "Can I give you some advice?"

"Um, sure."

"Hold on to the this kid. I've had you in my class for four years, and I've never seen you this happy, or this talkative. Not to mention your writing is better. This guy is special, and I think he's really good for you. Let him know."

"I will."

 

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

 

Several hours later, Eren and Levi were taking the train home.

Eren opened up the note from Erwin and smiled. "He said my poem's perfect! No revisions!"

"I'm not surprised," Levi said. "You know, I think this fair is going to be a big break for you."

"Really? Why?"

"I've told you: your work, especially this one, is though-provoking, but at the same time, comfortable and familiar. Having it read aloud will be like hearing a motherfucking lullaby. Either that, or it'll change their lives forever: your poems have that effect on people, you know.

"Actually, everything about you effects people in some way, from your attitude to your goddamn smile. You change people, Eren, for the better. You should know that."

After the last word, Eren smiled and kissed Levi on the cheek. Levi turned bright red where he'd been kissed, as Eren whispered, "Thank you."

They were silent the rest of the train ride. When they got to their stop, they got off. Eren kissed Levi good-bye, and then walked away.

(Eren was working weeknights at a fast food chain in order to supplement their income. Levi liked it: he got discounts at the various locations of the chain.)

After the kiss, Levi felt like he'd just read one of Eren's poems, which is to say that he felt cozy and safe, but at the same time, fluttery and confused. Eren has that effect on people, he thought.


	22. Chapter 22

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After an unpleasant publisher's meeting, Levi decides to cheer Eren up.

Their next publishing meeting didn't go very well.

The head of Shinganshina Publishers said she'd take 'We Are the Hunters,' but she wanted him to make revisions that included removing entire characters, subplots, and chapters. Levi said the revisions were bullshit, and the lady then said that the story would be trash without them, which made Eren very, very angry- so angry that he took a swing at her.

They promptly got kicked out.

As Levi drove the car home, there was a silence. It wasn't an angry silence or a peaceful silence, it was just an understanding silence. The understanding was that neither one of them would speak, because there was nothing to say. The thing had happened, they were both embarrassed, and they didn't know how to talk about it.

Despite the fact that it wasn't an 'angry silence,' Eren was, indeed, angry. Angry about the editor lady's stupidity, and her criticisms towards Levi, Eren's hero. And Levi wasn't blind: he could see that Eren was upset, and it really bothered him a lot.

Breaking the understanding silence, Levi muttered, "Screw it," and suddenly made a very sharp turn.

Eren jostled at the movement, then said, "What are you doing?"

"Taking you to the park to cheer you the hell up. Those green eyes were never meant to be sad."

"Um, okay, but why the park?"

"The cherry blossoms are blooming at this time of year. My mom took me to see them, once."

"Oh."

They were silent, and once again, it was an understanding silence. Yet, there was something peaceful in it: something hopeful and beautiful.

 

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

 

After parking, Eren and Levi walked hand-in-hand through the park. Spring had finally arrived, resulting in beautiful colors everywhere. That, on top of the early sunset dying all the colors a light pink, made the scene a gorgeous one.

Eren picked a spot under a blooming, pink cherry blossom tree. Its branches were wide and drooped down a bit, so they had some privacy behind the flowers.

Eren plucked one of the flowers from the tree. "Have you ever made flower crowns?"

"Of course not."

"Oh, we should make them sometime! Mikasa and I used to make them all the time, they're really nice and comfortable!"

"Why not make them now?"

Eren grabbed a lot of flowers, then turned his back to Levi and quickly got to work, making little grunts of effort as he did so. Levi tried to see what Eren was doing, but when he had no success, he simply smiled as he watched, because he found Eren's determination adorable.

A few minutes later, Eren cried, "Ta-da!"

He presented Levi with a circular crown of cherry blossoms. Levi took it and put it on top of his head. It pushed his undercut downwards and over his eyes, making Eren snort.

Then Eren put on his, and it happened to fit perfectly. "Now, we sing!"

"What? Why?"

"It's what Mikasa and I always did whenever we came here."

"Tch, fine. What do we even sing?"

"Um, anything. How about a love song? 'Can't Help Falling In Love?'"

"That's extremely cheesy."

"Pleeeeaaaaasssseeeee?"

"Ugh, why not."

Eren smiled and cleared his throat, then began to sing;

"Wise men say only fools rush in,

but I can't help falling in love with you."

 

Then Levi sang in a lovely baritone,

"Shall I stay? Would it be a sin,

if I can't help falling in love with you?"

 

Then Eren sang,

"Like a river flows surely to the sea,

darling so it goes, some things were meant to be-e!" 

 

Finally, they happily sang together,

"Take my hand, take my whole life, too,

for I.... can't..... help.... falling in love with you!

No, I can't help falling in love.... with...... you!"

 

Eren clapped a bit as they finished, and Levi grabbed his hand. "Eren," he said. "I don't want you to be disappointed if we never get accepted. We've already been rejected by two publishers, and it's very likely that we'll be rejected by the third."

Eren laughed. "We'll get accepted, I'm completely sure of it! You're the best writer I've ever come to know, and I think I'm fairly gifted, too! Our other meeting next month before the writing fair will be our last chance, but three's a charm, right? And besides, tomorrow will be a new day."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Only three more chapters left of this fic!


	23. Chapter 23

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eren and Levi enjoy the writing fair.

The writing fair was a beautiful place.

It was in a beautiful field, where trees were green and the May sun (it had been a month since their last publishing meeting) was shining brightly, making all the colors in the field lighter. Tables and stands filled the space, selling everything from stationary and tickets to books. In other words, it was Writer Paradise, just like Erwin had promised.

Erwin led them into the field, then turned to the two dozen students who had come with him to the fair. "Those of you who are setting up stands, go set them up," he said. About half of the students nodded and walked off.

Only 12 college-students were left, and Eren and Levi were amongst them. "You're all free to shop," Erwin said to them, "but the readings begin in that gazebo over there in two hours, and I expect you all to be half an hour early to prepare and practice your readings."

Everyone nodded.

"Good, now go have fun!"

Everyone, including Eren and Levi, walked off in different directions. 

"Isn't this exciting? You had that publisher-meeting with Reeves yesterday, and now we're here! This is paradise!" Eren said as he walked.

Levi smiled internally as he thought of the publishing meeting. He couldn't wait to tell Eren all about it and see him fanboy, but he wanted to wait until after the meeting so he could surprise him. "Yeah," he said simply.

"Well, Levi, which vendor do you want to go to first?"

"Snack vendor. I'm fucking starving."

As the day continued, Eren and Levi visited almost every vendor in the entire writing fair. They bought a million different kinds of pens and pencils, novels from almost every genre, and a few subscriptions to popular literary magazines. They also met several of their favorite authors from their writing site, like 'AthenaFaunaPop,' 'EPICS2013,' and 'MultifandomMemer,' and they enjoyed conversing with them about their most recent updates.

Nearly an two hours later, Levi decided to check the time on his phone. Upon seeing it, he promptly said, "Shit."

"What is it?" Eren asked.

"It's 1:30, and we're supposed to be at the gazebo now. Erwin's going to whoop our asses, that's for sure."

"Crap!" 

They ran fast, as fast as one can when one's arms are filled with books and pencils, to the gazebo. It took them a minute, but they eventually reached the little, white gazebo.

Surprisingly, Erwin didn't notice that they were late and therefore didn't notice that they were mad. He gave everyone a long speech about how proud he was of their writing, and that writing was all about being heard by the world, so they should speak as loudly as they could. The speech inspired everyone, even Levi.

Finally, it was time to begin. Several people filled the front of the gazebo's podium, eager to hear the carefully crafted words that were soon to be spoken.

Many people got up and read on that podium, reading everything from novels to prose. Some of the works made everyone in the audience laugh hysterically, and some of them brought people to genuine tears. While some were better and memorable than others, all of the had a small effect on Eren and Levi.

After about 12 people had read their works aloud, it was Levi's turn. He got onto the podium, cleared his throat, and began to read:

"Allison started talking about Jeff without warning. She never used specifics about where they met or who he was. She just told her friends that they got along well, and that Jeff cared about her a lot."

The story was about a girl who was kidnapped into her own dreams and kept there forever. The creepy way it was told, on top of Levi's bone-chilling voice, sent shivers down the audience's spines and made everything seem dark, despite the warm and sunny weather.

After Levi finished, there was a dead, terrified silence, and then people clapped enthusiastically, shuddering a bit as they whooped and cheered. Levi smirked and thought, Scaredy cats, but he was actually proud. He'd made people feel something, just like Eren.

Speaking of which, it was Eren's turn. The younger boy nervously walked up to the podium, stood up straight, then began to recite his poem.

 

"Memories; the awful ones

really screw you up,

but without them, our mind

is an empty cup.

 

Memories; they make us

scream and cry, but 

they're the only thing we

leave when we die.

 

We make them every day

with our families and friends,

so those precious moments

never really end.

 

Of course, some of them

are of torturous pasts;

of souls that were lost,

and lovers that didn't last.

 

But I try to only

recollect the gould, and

remember every moment,

in case I ever should

 

Leave the wondrous life

I'v enow come to know,

so the people, places and feelings,

never really go."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: THIS IS NOT THE LAST CHAPTER!! There are still two more chapters, and I promise, they won't disappoint!


	24. Chapter 24

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eren and Levi stroll through the now-empty field, and give each other some good news.

The audience was awed by Eren's poem. People clapped furiously and cheered, and Eren felt so proud! He was used to having people like his poems- he constantly had praising comments on his poems on the writing site (though a lot of them were from Levi), but seeing people enjoy it was different. There eyes were wide and when they came up to talk to him, they couldn't stop babbling on and on about how amazing his poem was. Eren wondered if he acted this way towards Levi.....

However, the constant noise of the congratulations and claps soon ended, as did the fair. By 4:00 in the afternoon, all the vendors had packed up their stands and the fair-goers left with their merchandise and memories.

Eren and Levi, however, remained. 

Eren had decided he wanted to roam the field a bit before they left. Levi didn't mind: the field was very beautiful and romantic, and the perfect place to tell Eren all about what happened at the publisher's meeting. 

So they walked along, looking at the scenery. When the vendors weren't there to distract them, it was easy to appreciate the beauty of the bright flowers and tall trees that were placed in the field here and there. Levi couldn't help but think that he'd happily spend years there, hand-in hand with the boy he loved, and surrounded by beautiful things- the most beautiful of which was Eren.

As is happened, while they strolled through the green grass, Eren asked, "So, um, how did the publisher-thing go?"

"Well. Really well," Levi said. "He wants to publish it."

Eren gasped, and his green eyes became brighter than the grass beneath them. "Really? Levi, that's fantastic! You're going to be published! Everyone in the word can read your awesome writing!"

"We're going to be published," Levi said, correcting him. "You're going to be credited as a co-author."

Eren squealed. "This is great! We're going to be famous!"

"Yeah, probably."

"Did Reeves want you to make any changes?"

"A few. He didn't like the names, so I'm thinking of giving them the names of the people they're based on. Also, he didn't like 'giants' and wants me to call them something scarier, like 'Titans.'"

"Okay, those are reasonable. At least he doesn't want you to completely remove your own character and take away my shifting powers like that crazy lady last month."

Levi snorted. "Yeah, but he also wants me to change the fucking title. Do you know how long it took me just to come up with 'We Are The Hunters?' A whole week."

"Aw, titles aren't too hard! How about you call it...... 'The Tale of Leroy Ackerton,'- or, 'Levi Ackerman,' I guess?"  
"No, too boring."

"'Rise of the Giantess?'"

"Not bad, but no."

"How about...... 'Attack on Giant?'"

"That's good, but it'd have to be 'Attack on Titan.'"

"Okay, 'Attack on Titan' it is, then!"

"Damn, that reminds me, I'll probably have to come up with a new name for the sequel, too."

"WAIT, YOU'RE WRITING A SEQUEL?????"

"Oh, yeah, and Reeve's wants to publish it when it's done, too."

"WILL YOU BE POSTING IT ONLINE? CAN I WRITE POEMS FOR IT? WHAT WILL IT BE ABOUT??"

"Yes, yes, and I can't disclose that. Calm down."

"Oh my god, this is the second best news I've heard all day!"

"What's the first best news?"

Eren blushed and cursed himself under his breath. "Well, technically,I haven't heard it yet, but I'm pretty sure I'm going to hear it. I hope I'll get to hear it."

"Who are you going to hear it from?"

"Um........ you."

Levi lifted an eyebrow. "Really? What am I going to say?"

Eren sighed and said, 'Well, there's really no way to wait now, is there?"

He got down on one knee and fished a black, velvety box out of his pocket. Levi looked at him with wide eyes, wondering if Eren was doing what he thought he was doing. He opened the tiny black box, revealing a small ring with a huge, sparkling diamond. 

Levi gasped.

Eren smiled, cleared his throat, then said, "Levi Ackerman, I met you this September and immediately knew that you were something special. However, never in a million years would I have guessed how philosophical, talented, smart, and interesting you are. Now, not only are you my boyfriend, but you're also my best friend, mentor, hero, and my world. I couldn't imagine a life without you by my side, telling me horrible jokes and giving me advice, so would you please make me the happiest man in the whole entire world and marry me?"

Levi's hands were clasped over his mouth in shock. He couldn't believe that Eren was saying this, but still, he had no doubt in his mind what his answer would be. He took his hands off of his mouth and whispered, "Yes."

Eren laughed in joy, then grabbed his fiancé around the waist and kissed him. They held each other tight and kissed each other with fierce joy and passion, because they were so ready to spend the rest of their lives like this, in each other's warm embrace.

As they kissed, Eren's hand went to Levi's knee, and in a single motion, he swooped Levi up bridal-style. Levi was surprised by the action, but he put his arms around his lover's neck and stared into the green eyes he'd fallen in love with.

"Did Uncle Kenny approve of your proposal?" he asked.

Eren shook his head."No, I asked him for his blessing and he bluntly refused. Why? Is that a problem?"

"No, it's good. If that deadbeat says 'no,' then I definitely say 'yes.'"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the second-to-last chapter! I hope you enjoyed all the good news in this chapter- Eren and Levi were sure happy to hear it!
> 
> See you in the next (and final) chapter!


	25. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eren and Levi have their big day.

It had been nearly a year since the writing fair, since Eren and Levi's beautiful stories and poems, and since Eren had proposed to Levi. Levi had long since graduated from college, and Eren was 18 and near the end of his sophomore year.

However, there were more important things to worry about than graduations: it was Eren and Levi's wedding day.

Eren stood at the alter in a very fancy, white suit. Armin stood behind him as his best man, while Hanji was across the altar as Levi's maid of honor, waiting for Levi. In fact, they were all waiting for Levi- Eren most of al. His breathing was shaky, as he was very nervous to see how his soon-to-be husband would reply to their wedding vows.

"Don't be nervous," Armin whispered to Eren. "Everything will be great."

Eren didn't really listen- he was too busy watching the church doors anxiously, in hopes of flying them open to reveal Levi. 

As it happened, only moments later, there was a small creak as the door opened, revealing Levi in a white suit similar to Eren's, but he wore a white top hat. He was arm-in-arm with Uncle Kenny, while Petra and Oluo's children, Stacy and Leonard, paraded behind them as the flower girl and ring bearer.

Eren nearly teared up as he watched Levi walked down the isle, placing one dainty foot in front of the other. This was it. He and Levi, together forever. It was so strange to think he'd once seen Levi as some unattainable celebrity. Now, he knew Levi's heart, mind, and soul almost as well as his own, and he loved it all, and any life without the genius clean freak seemed impossible, miserable....

The string quartet soon stopped playing 'Pachebel Canon' as Levi stepped onto the podium, across from Eren and in front of a bloody-nosed Hanji.

The priest cleared his throat and began to say the vows. Eren and Levi only half-listened, as they were busy staring into each other's eyes. They had memorized each other's eyes, every color, speck, and shape, as well as memorized what their eyes were saying. Both of their eyes were smiling slightly, saying, 'I'm ready.'

But soon came the part where they knew they had to pay attention. "Levi Ackerman, do you take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband, in sickness or in health, for richer or poorer, for better or for worse?"

"I do," Levi said, a little sparkle in his grey eyes.

"And do you, Eren Jaeger, take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband, in sickness or in health, for richer or poorer, for better or for worse?"

"I do."

"Now, if we could have the rings..."

Leonard gave the rings to Levi, who slipped them onto their fingers. As he did so, he caressed Eren's finger a bit, knowing that the finger had written beautiful poems, explored Levi's body, and held their engagement rings.

"You may kiss the groom!"

Eren and Levi instantly grabbed each other and kissed passionately, holding tight to each other's bodies. Hanji squealed, but they didn't even notice. One thought consumed the entirety of their minds:

We're going to be like this forever.

 

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

 

The reception went perfectly. All of the guests ate and some people drank champagne (mostly Uncle Kenny), many wedding presents were given, and Eren and levi slow-danced to 'Thinking Out Loud' while Hanji- and everyone else, for that matter- cried in joy. Everything was happy and romantic.

After their beautiful slow-dance, everyone heard the cling! of a spoon against a glass. Everyone turned around and saw Armin, standing up and sweating a bit nervously. He gulped and cleared his throat.

"Um... th-there's something I'd l-like to say," he said anxiously.

Everyone nodded eagerly, especially Eren and Levi, and Armin cleared his throat yet again.

"I-I've known Eren Jaeger for 11 years, since we were both 7 years old. A lot has happened since then, including the death of his parents at age 14. He was pretty depressed after that, and he didn't smile or laugh or dream as much as he used to, but when he met Levi- both online and at college- everything changed. He instantly became so much cheerier, and more like his old self. He began to write much more, too. Levi Ackerman has inspired and improved my best friend, and, after reading Levi's books and seeing how he acted today, I believe that Eren has done the same to him. Watching their beautiful love story has been like watching some of Eren's poetry in motion, and I hope that they poem is not a tragedy, but a beautiful, long, epic.

That is all."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, that's the end of the story! I might make a very short sequel one day, but that's a long, long time away.
> 
> I want to thank you all for reading this book. I started this book only, what, six months ago? In that time, it has gained 1.4K hits on here, and 3.2K reads on Wattpad. Never in my wildest dreams did I think that my dorky little fantasy about Eren and Levi would gain so much love and popularity.
> 
> I'm going to miss this story. I'm going to miss thinking about it, crying about it, and daydreaming about it. But more than that, I'm going to miss all of your lovely comments and votes. You've all really inspired me.
> 
> I hope you all find your jaegerbombfantastic's and CleanWriter's on this site.
> 
> Thank you <3


End file.
